Leeds Rhinos must give Rohan Smith the tools to get the job done – Peter Smith

The 40-year-old Australian, who will fly in from Australia once paperwork has been completed, might take over a team rock bottom of Betfred Super League and, even if they beat current basement dwellers Toulouse Olympique tomorrow, Rhinos will still be in the thick of – yet another – relegation battle.

It’s probably fair to say fans were hoping for – and expecting – a bigger name, and somebody with more miles on the clock as a head coach. Chief executive Gary Hetherington said he wanted someone with “experience and seniority”, but Smith has not been ‘top dog’ in either the NRL or Super League.

To that extent, he remains unproven, but he does have a solid background, having worked at top-flight NRL clubs including New Zealand Warriors, Newcastle Knights, Sydney Roosters, Penrith Panthers and Gold Coast Titans.

The son of vastly experienced coach Brian Smith and nephew of Tony Smith, who guided Rhinos to the Super League title in 2004 and 2007, he was also an assistant at London Broncos and head coach of Bradford Bulls in the Championship.

He has been recruited from Brisbane Broncos’ feeder team North Devils, who he guided to the Queensland Cup title last year.

There are similarities with his uncle, who had relatively limited head-coach experience when he joined Leeds for the 2004 campaign and Rhinos’ management are clearly looking for him to have a similar impact.

That would be a huge ask and, at the moment, it’s not winning trophies Leeds need to worry about, avoiding relegation to the Championship – the fate suffered by Huddersfield Giants in the year Tony Smith joined them – is a much more pressing concern.

If Leeds lose to Toulouse, it will be difficult to see where their next win is coming from, but the positive for Smith is he will be inheriting a talented squad.

His job will be to get them playing to their potential, which they have been nowhere near this year. Once some key players return from injury – and if others can stop getting suspended every few weeks – Leeds will certainly have a strong enough roster to push up towards mid-table security.

Any appointment a club makes is a gamble because they are dealing with human beings, not robots.

Smith has worked at big clubs in the past, but Leeds isn’t an ordinary job.

He will be in charge of one of the biggest clubs in the game, with – certainly in this country – the best facilities, largest fan base and highest expectations.

That has proved too much for individuals with more experience than Rohan, but – given his family background – he is unlikely to be going into it with his eyes closed and one thing the Smiths certainly don’t lack is confidence.

It will be a balancing act because the first priority is Super League survival but there is also a major rebuilding job to do.

Some coaches would look to older heads to get them out of relegation trouble, but part of Smith’s remit will be to ensure the talented youngsters in Leeds’ system are given an opportunity to flourish.

His CV suggests he is someone who will place an emphasis on developing players and that is likely to be one of the factors which secured him the job. At this stage, nobody knows if Smith will be a success or not, or even how that would be defined.

Initially, he needs to transform Leeds into a team who regularly finish in Super League’s top four – at least – and compete in semi-finals and finals.

That’s some way off at the moment, but achievable in the long term.

The important thing now is players and fans give him the benefit of the doubt and the club provide the tools needed to get the job done.