Richard Agar says he took the emotional decision to step down as head coach of Leeds Rhinos because he felt he had taken the team as far as he could. The 50-year-old former Hull FC and Wakefield Trinity boss stepped into the breach, initially on an interim basis, in May 2019 following the sacking of Australian Dave Furner.
Agar steadied the ship and guided the Rhinos away from relegation danger in 2019 before winning his first major trophy as a head coach the following season with victory over Salford in the Challenge Cup final. After taking Leeds to the play-off semi-finals last term, the close-season acquisition of Blake Austin, Aidan Sezer, David Fusitu’a and James Bentley encouraged hopes of a genuine title challenge this year.
But Leeds have lost five of their opening six Super League games, prompting Agar to throw in towel and leave chief executive Gary Hetherington searching for a new man. Agar said: “I felt that after three years the helm, it has been three pretty attritional years.
Read more: Eight potential candidates for the Leeds Rhinos head coach role
“The first year we were in relegation battle and I took over the club in very difficult circumstances. The second year was Covid with the pay-cuts plus the carnage of the fixture list, and then all the injuries we had last year, which was a season like I’d never experienced before.
“Those three years have been a fight to get through everything and, in all honesty, it has probably had a little bit of an effect on me. I thought this season we had a clearer run at it, but I just plainly and simply feel that I’ve not had a big enough impact on the team.
“When the team isn’t going well, it has an effect on your whole life because we all care about the club and we all care about the players. This bunch of players gave me one of the best days of my life at Wembley and I’ll always be so grateful for that and treasure those friendships.
“But as head coach, looking at form and performances, I felt I needed to have a stronger impact on where we’re at and what we are turning out. Perhaps I have taken the team as far as I can and they may well need a fresh voice at this moment in time.
“I just feel that in the best interests of the team, and the club, that this change might help them to get out of the poor performances. I think this team is way better than what we are seeing. I watch them in training and there is no lack of intensity or quality.
“It has just not translated into performances on the field and that has been the most difficult thing for me. Despite what I’m seeing in the week, I just don’t feel I’m having a strong enough impact on what is happening on game-day.
“I’m expecting Gary’s phone to be ringing off the hook because I’m walking out on what I believe is the best job and the best club in the game.”
Agar admitted he was hurt by the team’s current plight but Hetherington is keen to re-deploy him elsewhere within the organisation after he has taken a much-needed break. Agar, who stressed he was not “a reluctant coach”, said no new role at Headingley had yet been denied.
He added: “I’ve had some very loose conversations with Gary about down the track but that’s as far as it’s gone. I think, at this moment in time, I need space from it and the players need some space from it as well, to get on with their jobs.
“If those conversations with Gary pick up down the track, then we will see what it looks like. At this moment in time, there is not too much meat on the bones with regards to that.”
