Leeds Rhinos head coach Brad Arthur has doubled down on his intentions to return to the NRL in a coaching capacity in the not too distant future.
Arthur will be the man at the helm at Headingley in 2026 after agreeing to a contract extension following a long and drawn out period of uncertainty. That decision came in August, just a month or so before Leeds finished fourth in the Super League table, which hammered home the progress the club made in Arthur’s first full season in West Yorkshire.
The Rhinos’ season came to an end in the first round of the play-offs, though, with St Helens dumping them out in the most dramatic way possible with Shane Wright’s winning try coming some time after the full-time hooter.
That loss will have left a bitter taste in Arthur’s mouth and as Leeds prepare to return for pre-season, it will surely be the source of their motivation moving forward under the Australian.
Could the 2026 season by Arthur’s last as a Super League head coach, though? The Leeds boss has made no bones about his desire to go back to the NRL at some stage after being sacked by Parramatta Eels and and in interview with the Daily Telegraph, he has suggested that he could be looking at a 2027 return.
“My life is in Australia, that’s the big part of it. I know Jake [Arthur’s son] is over here so I’ve got more family around me but it’s hard being away from Australia, where everything is right there and convenient,” he said.
“In 12 months’ time, I will be ready to go again. I know the mistakes that I got wrong but I wouldn’t be starting as a rookie again. I got thrown in the deep-end at a big club with a lot of pressure and expectations.
“I’m in a different stage of my life now where my kids are older and grown-up so moving around and starting at a new club wouldn’t bother me. There’s no job in the game that worries me or feels like I can’t do. At some stage I would like to get back into it, yeah.”
Leeds Rhinos boss issues Super League verdict
Arthur arrived in Super League in July 2024, just two months after being relieved of his duties by the Eels. And, he admits he arrived in the competition relatively blind having ‘disrespected’ it previously.
“It’s improving,” Arthur said on Super League in general. “There are some really high quality games and then there’s been some games that dropped off towards the end of the year with teams out of contention.
“But there were plenty of results that you wouldn’t have picked. If you don’t turn up on the day you get beaten.
“I probably underestimated and probably disrespected it, not knowing a lot about it, sitting back in Australia, so lucky how good our game is. I didn’t really take much notice of it. But since I’ve come over here, (I’ve seen) a lot of good players here that could cut it in the NRL.
“I’m not prepared to say who. I will keep that to myself.”
