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PETER SMITH: Rhinos' Coady capture a sign of changing times

Published on Wednesday 17 June 2009 10:27

Super League champions Leeds Rhinos' swoop to sign rookie centre Michael Coady looks like a gamble, but it could be the way ahead.

Coady, 22, has played only a handful of rugby league games at professional level with cash-strapped Co-op Championship strugglers Doncaster.

Brought up in Bristol, he played union until a few years ago when, fed up of standing around on the wing getting cold, he opted to give league a try.

After spells with Bristol Sonics and Leicester Phoenix, in the summer Co-op Conference, Coady wrote to Doncaster asking for a trial.

The South Yorkshire outfit had carried out training sessions at Loughborough University, where Coady was a student, last summer.

He went training, played a couple of practice games – including one against Wakefield at Belle Vue, where he scored a length-of-the-field try – and was promptly signed on a one-year contract.

Rhinos began taking an interest in Coady after he scored four tries in a Northern Rail Cup tie away to London Skolars, in only his third game of professional rugby league.

A bout of glandular fever set the trainee maths teacher back for three months, but he made his return a few weeks ago.

Rhinos chief executive Gary Hetherington and club president Harry Jepson watched him in a comeback game at Whitehaven and a three-year deal was worked out, which will begin next season.

It has been a meteoric rise for the former England Students rugby union player and Leeds have obviously decided to take a chance, though Coady isn't going to pose a substantial risk financially.

Centre has been a problem position for Rhinos for a couple of seasons and they need to be thinking now about a long-term replacement for veteran Keith Senior, who has re-signed for next year but who may call it a day after that.

Coady is still very inexperienced, but Leeds have clearly seen something in him. He has been signed for his potential and if he comes good, Rhinos have got a bargain.

If not, then they haven't really lost anything. It's a case of nothing ventured......and is part of a growing trend for Super League clubs.

When he links up with Rhinos, Coady will be the second member of their senior squad to be signed from a Co-op Championship club, after giant forward Ian Kirke, who had spells with York and Dewsbury before moving to Headingley three years ago.

And that's three if you count prop Luke Amber, who made one senior appearance for Salford City Reds last season when they were playing in the lower division.

Wakefield Trinity Wildcats, Hull and Harlequins have led the way in spotting the potential for players outside the top flight. Wakefield's Danny Brough is another ex-Dewsbury and York player who proved that once put into a full-time environment he could do the business at top level. Hull originally took the gamble on Brough and also signed Richard Whiting from Featherstone and Dominic Maloney from Dewsbury.

Of Wakefield's current squad, Brough, Matt Blaymire, Jamie Rooney, Oliver Wilkes, Scott Grix, Sam Obst, Ricky Bibey and Richard Moore have all done their time at a lower level, though several of those have also been through the system at other Super League clubs.

Huddersfield Giants took a chance on signing a young winger, Danny Kirmond, from Featherstone Rovers. Switched into the back-row, he has become one of the game's most exciting rising stars.

Giants also have high hopes for Whitehaven product Gregg McNally.

Harlequins have gone down a similar route, snapping up a promising prospect in Luke Gale, a former Rhinos Academy half-back who was signed following a spell at Doncaster.

Pacy James Ford has done a decent job as a stand-in full-back/winger for Castleford Tigers this season. He joined them last winter from Sheffield Eagles after beginning his career at Featherstone. Rhinos fans – crying out for an experienced centre – may be under-whelmed by Coady's arrival, but it is a sign of changing times in rugby league.

The economics of the salary cap means clubs are restricted in the number of high-profile big-earning players they can have on their books.

Part-timers are by definition a cheaper option and, as we have seen, there are players in the lower divisions who are capable of making the step up, given the opportunity.

The Yorkshire Evening Post revealed last week that Rhinos are watching Whitehaven's young prop Kyle Amor. He's someone who could have a big future at the elite level.

Coady's progress from parks player to Super League is also more evidence for the value of the summer Conference, which has expanded from 14 clubs when it began in 1998 to approximately 90 now – plus half as many again in the feeder Merit Leagues.

The sides range from Lossiemouth in the north of Scotland to south Dorset at the opposite end of the country, from Norwich in the east right across to West Wales Wildboars.

Without the Conference, growing up in Bristol and attending university at Loughborough, Coady would have had few opportunities to try the 13-a-side game.

There are literally hundreds of big, tough, athletic kids out there who are getting disillusioned with rugby union and who could make the grade in professional rugby league, given the opportunity. The trick is to find them.

Harlequins have several in their squad and Celtic Crusaders are beginning to go down the same route.

Obviously, lower division clubs face losing their best young players, but that's the law of the jungle.

A pathway is being established and Championship clubs are benefiting from the release of players who have come through Super League academy systems, without quite making the grade at top level, so it is a two-way street.

Top clubs will always have a place for big- name signings, but they are having to unearth new methods of finding potential talent to back up the occasional high-profile experienced recruit.

Unless you're Warrington Wolves, the days of going out and simply splashing the cash to bring in established stars have gone.

The net result is a levelling out of the competition, though whether it is being evened up or down is a matter for more debate.