Rohan Smith admits that discussions about Leeds Rhinos' disciplinary record in 2022 will be on his agenda of things to address as he settles into his new role at Headingley. No team has had more players suspended so far in Super League this season than the Rhinos, with their indiscipline one of the major reasons behind their sluggish start to the season.
Smith insists he has no desire to completely quash Leeds' aggression, but admits he will be looking to make the Rhinos as disciplined as possible as he plots an ascent up the Super League table in his first weeks as the club's new coach.
"Sometimes in a combat sport such as ours, there's going to be the odd indiscretion," he said. "That's somewhat unavoidable but certainly being disciplined is something I've looked at in the teams I've coached.
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"Low penalty teams and low suspension teams tend to be more successful, so it's about working through some things with individuals, and making sure players understand the impact it can have on the current match and the following matches too.
"Sometimes, with more suspensions, it means players who are young and don't need to be playing every week are then playing every week, and it stretches the club. Nobody goes out there to get suspended, nobody is doing it deliberately, so there's a mix of learning the lessons and understanding the impact it has on the group."
Smith met the Leeds squad for the first time on Thursday since taking charge at Headingley, ahead of his first game in the role next week against Salford Red Devils. But he was quick to praise the work of Jamie Jones-Buchanan during his interim reign, after he guided Leeds to back-to-back wins prior to Smith's arrival.
"It shows a lot about him as a character and an emerging coach, what he's done," Smith said.
"From afar, it looks like a strong job he's done. It's a tough gig for a youthful coach but Jamie has got such great values on the rugby field and in life, and you can see the team have been playing well through some real adversity.
"They've got some strong results off the back of a month of hard work and it's been really good connecting with Jamie."
