Jamie Jones-Buchanan has provided some tactical insight from the mind of Leeds boss Rohan Smith which has shed some light on why Kruise Leeming may not have been a perfect fit under the Rhinos coach. Jones-Buchanan, a Leeds legend following his role in the club's Golden Generation, acted as assistant to Smith during his impressive first season at the club.
The former forward, dubbed 'JJB' throughout his career, was part of the Sky Sports broadcast team and was involved heavily in the pre-match build-up of the Rhinos' disappointing defeat to Castleford Tigers. Leeming's upcoming departure from the club was a big focus before and after the match after Rugby League Live first broke the story.
Jones-Buchanan, who acted as interim coach after Richard Agar's departure last season, was quizzed on the Leeming situation, and went on to explain how Smith is a big believer in halfbacks providing a running threat in a game. Leeming though, of course, is primarily a running nine, something which doesn't blend well with running halfbacks.
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"With Blake Austin and Aidan Sezer, you want the ball in their hands. When he's playing more direct it's them stepping on the outside foot. When you talk about ball control, you step off the outside you're heading back towards the ruck, you're playing square with forwards inside and out and inevitably it arrests that defence.
"Rohan is a big believer that when halfbacks run, good things happen. When halfbacks get tackled a lot then opportunities present themselves. he encourages that and we've seen the fruits of that over the last few weeks."
Another former Rhino, Barrie McDermott, also added his thoughts and stated that Jarrod O'Connor was a better fit for what the Rhinos are looking for.
"Jarrod does what he's told and that's a strength within that triangle of decision-makers," he said. "Jarrod is tough and leads the line defensively. When it comes to decisions on who should get the ball, nine times out of ten he's making the best decision for the team. Kruise has a rugby player's brain and he thinks, you contrast him to Paul McShane, his addition is exactly what Castleford need, and Leeds need Jarrod O'Connor."
Nevertheless, Jones-Buchanan couldn't hide his disappointment at the news after the game. "I'm a bit upset, devastated," he said. "He's a good character is Kruise, I like his work ethic. He's got an honesty about his game and works very hard. He's very reflective and asks himself questions on how he can be better and he was a contagious character. But if he's found other opportunities then I wish him all the best."
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