Richard Agar insists Zane Tetevano had a significant impact on Leeds Rhinos last year despite the forward expressing his disappointment at his first season with the club.
Tetevano, a marquee signing for the Rhinos ahead of the 2021 season, told Leeds Live last week that he felt he had 'owing' to do to the club after a frustrating first season with the club.
The New Zealand international made only 12 appearances as a combination of suspension, Covid isolation and injuries disrupted his maiden Super League campaign.
While Agar admitted that seeing the 30-year-old on the field more often this year was desirable, his lack of game time last season didn't detract from the influence he had away from the pitch during his first 12 months at Headingley.
"I understand where he's coming from as he's his own biggest critic," Agar said.
"He's got very high standards and levels. He copped a few suspensions and he had Covid pretty bad during the year too. He didn't get a consistent run of games and he had a punctuated year, he wants to improve on that.
"But what I'll say is as coach, he had a big impact on the organisation and our young blokes with the standards he drives in training, He's a big leader in the camp as an international player and he's leading everything on the field all the time.
"I still feel he was harshly dealt with in a couple of instances with the suspensions but the aim is for us to have him on the field more often this year.
"But I'll say this, he had a big impact on us in a lot of areas, internally. He's a great mentor for a lot of our young middles and a super guy to work with, and if he didn't have as big an impact on the field as he would have liked, he certainly had a big impact on us in a lot of other areas."
