One thing eagle-eyed Leeds Rhinos fans may have noticed during Saturday's game against Leigh Leopards was a positional change for both Blake Austin and Aidan Sezer. Though the two played in the halves, Sezer was positioned largely on the right side of the pitch, with Austin on the left.
That's a complete swap from the norm for both players, with left-footed Sezer spending his career operating on the other side of the field, while Austin has largely played on the right. It was yet another interesting tweak instigated by coach Rohan Smith who, having overseen the transition of Jarrod O'Connor to hooker and now nurturing Morgan Gannon to play in the spine, is developing a reputation for being an outside-of-the-box thinker.
Sezer in particular impressed in the new system, playing his part in both of Leeds' tries during the 14-12 defeat, as well as converting both goals. Explaining the move, Smith said: "I don't want them playing on one side at all. So what we saw was Austin playing both sides of the field quite a bit and Sezer, while he was more right-sided, he was the first receiver on shifts or the first layer of middles.
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"I don't want them playing one side or the other. A bit of that was getting experience on the other side of the field because for whatever reason they gravitated towards left and right, it's not something I've ever told them to do. I think it's a blemish on the game that we play left and right. I don't know why halves, if you're left-footed stand on the left, I actually think it's more beneficial to be on the right. I don't want us to be strict or rigid and I was pleased with how both those players went today. The process stuff isn't flashy or particularly come to points but it was positive, energetic rugby."
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