The Scrum
10 1GG Saturday November 14 2020 | the times
Sean Long, synonymous with St
Helens after winning every trophy
on offer during a glorious playing
career, has fixed his sights on making
his old rivals Leeds Rhinos serial title
winners again.
The former Saints and Great
Britain scrum half has moved to
Headingley as an assistant coach after
recently ending a 15-month stint as
attack coach at Harlequins.
The 44-year-old was not supposed
to start his new role until next month
but, with three members of Leeds’s
coaching staff, including the head
coach Richard Agar, isolating because
of a positive Covid-19 test in the
camp, Long had to prepare the team
for last night’s play-off match against
Catalans Dragons.
Long says that he is a “better coach
and probably a better person” for his
time at Harlequins but was left
frustrated that he was not allowed to
fully impose his ideas on Paul
Gustard’s team. Still, he left on good
terms and says he could return to
union, with Eddie Jones, Michael
Cheika and Scott Wisemantel among
the first team to do it?’ so I became
frustrated. When we went into
lockdown in March I had Zoom
meetings with guys like Cheika [the
former Australia head coach] and
Wisemantel, who were telling me my
ideas were right.
“After lockdown at Quins we came
back and changed a lot but I still felt
I had to ask rather than just being
given free rein. Due to Covid-19, I also
took a 25 per cent pay cut, which wasanother factor in me leaving because
the cost of living in Surrey was high.
“I built excellent relationships with
lads like Marcus Smith, Danny Care
and Mike Brown, so they were sad to
see me leave, as was Gussy.
“I got down to the last three as
Eddie Jones’s attack coach in 2018
and we’ve stayed in touch, so the door
is never closed. After leaving Quins
I had offers from clubs in the
Championship and Wales. There was‘I was frustrated Quins didn’t listen to my ideas’
his growing network of contacts.
“I loved my time at Quins and I’m
glad I did it — the boys were really
receptive to my methods and I learnt
a lot from the coaches there,” Long,
who previously served as an assistant
coach at Salford and St Helens, says.
“The work ethic was fantastic and
most days we started at 6am and left
at 6pm, so the professionalism was
unbelievable and time management
became hugely important.
“If you have seven minutes to run
a certain drill, you can’t go over that
time slot and have to get your point
across straight away.
“Gussy [Gustard] challenged me
every single day and we would argue
at times, but that made me a better
coach. I studied the game a lot more
than I did when I was in league
because league was a game that came
naturally to me.
“My presentation to the players,
and explaining what was needed,
improved massively because I was
coaching 53 lads compared to 30 in
league. Being at Quins has opened so
many doors for me because I’ve
worked in both codes now.”
Against all that, Long — who was
pipped to the role of England attack
coach by Wisemantel in 2018 —
says he was not afforded the same
freedom he enjoyed when coaching in
league. “At Saints, [head coach] Justin
Holbrook would say, ‘You run the
attack,’ but at Quins I would put my
ideas forward and be told, ‘No one
does that.’ I’d say, ‘Why can’t we beinterest from Leicester Tigers and
other Super League clubs too, so I
must’ve been doing something right.”
Long played under Agar at Hull FC
and believes the 2020 Challenge Cup
winners can embark on another
golden era and possibly claim a
record-extending ninth Super League
title this month.
Long says: “Back in January, when
Leeds were in pre-season, Rich asked
me to do a couple of days of
consultancy with the team, working
on structure and attacking shapes.
“I got all the pivots together in a
video session — Luke Gale, Richie
Myler, Robert Lui, Kruise Leeming,
Brad Dwyer and Jack Walker — and
they completely nailed everything,
both on the training field and in the
next couple of games. It was unreal
and that familiarity has made it easier
with me starting back again this week.
“Leeds have had some difficult years
in transition but they’re on the climb
again and recently won the Challenge
Cup. I see so much potential in them,
so for me it was a no-brainer.
“I can help them get to the next
level and build another dynasty. With
Rich as head coach, and ex-players
such as Jamie Jones-Buchanan and
Chev Walker also on board, there is a
very strong coaching team in place.
“I can add significantly to that and
Rich has said he wants to groom me
into becoming a head coach in the
next couple of years.
“And I know he will. I’ve not been
this excited for a long time.”Sean Long explains to
Ross Heppenstall
about highs and lows of
stint in union and why
he returned to old code
Long started his new role early after several Leeds coaches had to self-isolateSW PIX/REXLIVE RUGBY TODAY
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