Big praise for Leeds assistants Sean Long and Jamie Jones-Buchanan

Drew Darbyshire

Leeds coach Richard Agar cannot speak highly enough of his assistants Sean Long and Jamie Jones-Buchanan ahead of the 2021 campaign.

Former Great Britain and St Helens half-back Long returned to league from Harlequins RU towards the end of last season, and Agar is glad to welcome Long’s services to the Rhinos.

Agar said: “He is already stamping his mark. His passion for rugby league is incredible. We all love the game and the sport but Sean absolutely lives and breathes it.

“He is full of ideas as you can imagine, he has got loads of training drills and methods that he wants to throw in and I guess at this moment in time we are trying to hold him back and not throw everything at them in one foul swoop! He has been brilliant, he did a little bit with us in pre-season last year and he came in the last week or two of last season.

“The boys have loved his presence and energy. When we spoke to the players when they came back from the break on our first day, we gave them a bit of a presentation on some of the things we did well last year and some areas we felt we could improve.

“There was statistical information in there and some real gaps that if we want to be up there and challenge this year, then there are a couple of areas that we need to be much better at. A nod to our coaching staff, we feel that Sean’s knowledge and detail is right up there with anyone’s in the game.

“When you are talking about the absolute smart geniuses of rugby league, I think Sean is right up there and I’m saying that having worked at the top levels of the game for a long time. He is as smart a rugby league individual as you will ever come across.”

Agar has been full of praise for Jones-Buchanan, who is about to enter his second year as an assistant coach following his retirement as a player at the end of 2019.

Agar said: “We have got Jamie Jones-Buchanan who is an unbelievable communicator, a great orator, is a guy that will always challenge the consensus.

“He is a guy who always thinks outside of the box and is a coach that if you throw him a challenge then he will think laterally and will come back with lots of different ideas.

“I love the fact that we have got different people on our staff who can all challenge each other. I think Jamie a year in on the back of last year will continue to grow as a coach. Both guys are wonderful characters to be around day in, day out.”

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