Coach Rohan Smith insists he can turn Leeds Rhinos around, says fans anger won't get him down

Friday’s 40-10 hammering at St Helens was Rhinos’ seventh defeat in 13 competitive games this year and they have won only three of their last nine, all against Betfred Super League’s bottom trio.

There were jeers and protests against Smith from some of Rhinos’ travelling fans at TW Stadium and complaints about his coaching on social media afterwards. But asked in his post-match press conference how he deals personally with that, Smith said: “I don’t.

“I took on the choice as a very young man to want to chase the coaching dream and every coaching job I’ve had, I’ve felt pressure every day to do my job as best I can. It’s a team sport and we are all involved in it. That stuff makes no difference to me, I feel the same pressure after a win, loss or anywhere in between.”

Smith was also questioned if he can “turn things around and get the team playing to what they are capable of”. He stressed: “Yes.

“We’ve got a group that is still new, we are miles off playing to the ability we think we are capable of, but that’s a guess because there’s a bunch of new players to the club this year and almost everyone in the club is in their first or second year of having a significant role in the team. The high-performing teams in this competition over a very long period of time have had a large amount of cohesion and chemistry and shared experience in the jersey together. We are miles away from that time together, but we are never that far away from playing a lot better than we did today.”