I want to be leader at Rhinos
JONES-BUCHANAN KEEN TO FOCUS ON IMPROVING AT LEEDS
JAMIE Jones-buchanan is open-minded about the prospect of becoming Leeds Rhinos’ head coach one day and cannot see himself working anywhere but Headingley.
The former second-rower, a seventime Super League Grand Final winner in Leeds’ all-conquering side, retired at the end of the 2019 campaign and joined Richard Agar’s coaching staff.
Jones-buchanan and Sean Long serve as Agar’s first-team assistants and are seeking to return the club to its former glories this year.
Jones-buchanan’s focus is on defence and, at 40, he remains open-minded about what the future may hold.
“My desire is to be a leader and help other people to develop themselves, so my big passion is human performance,” he said.
“Obviously the lens through which that manifests at the minute is as an assistant coach with the first team at Leeds Rhinos.
“I want us to get back to winning trophies and having that dynasty of success we enjoyed in the past.
“Does that mean I want to be a head coach one day? Potentially.
“That might manifest itself and I definitely wouldn’t rule it out. I’ve got a lot of learning to do and I’ve learnt so much from Rich Agar - he’s been fantastic.
“I’ve also learnt so much from Brian Mcdermott, Tony Smith, Brian Mcclennan and a plethora of other great coaches along the way.
“Steve Mcnamara was a great international coach and if I can make all that part of my identity as Jamie Jones-buchanan, and serve that Rhinos badge, then absolutely I want to do that. Do I want to be head coach at another club? I’d say no, at the minute. It’s always been about Leeds.
“I know that sounds overly loyal, but if you look at people like Steven Gerrard in football, who has moved about but will forever be associated with Liverpool.
“But for the development of his career, he’s had to move on but for me? I’m very much rooted in Leeds.”
Jones-buchanan, who was awarded an MBE in the New Year’s Honours list, is enjoying life at Headingley under Agar but has plenty of other projects on the go.
He added: “I’ve been doing a Level 4 apprenticeship with UK Sport and am inter-mingling with other coaches from all kinds of sports.
“We’ve been going through what makes great leaders, and leadership, and my ultimate goal in life is to be the best version of myself. Who I was yesterday has got to contribute to who I am tomorrow and I’m going to keep asking that question - how can I be better?
“For me, it was really interesting when somebody said ‘if your development continues as a coach, you might have to go somewhere else and coach another team.’ The thought of that just never, ever entered my mind. I only ever played for one professional club, Leeds Rhinos, and I only ever played for one community club, Stanningley.
“I’ve always been very loyal in that regard and my ambition has always been for the progression of Leeds.”