Leeds Rhinos have appointed former Great Britain international Tony Smith to their Academy setup, Rugby League Live understands. Smith, who played for England and Great Britain during his playing days, is understood to be joining the Headingley set-up to help replace Chev Walker after his promotion to first-team matters.
Walker has been promoted fresh off the back of guiding the club's academy side to Grand Final success in September. That left a vacancy within the club, which they advertised for last month.
The advertisement was for an Academy head coach and it's believed that is the role Smith will take up. Smith, who is currently at Dewsbury Rams as an assistant coach, has also had coaching roles at Wakefield and Castleford. He was the Tigers' Academy head coach for eight years. He spent a short period as Wakefield's head coach after being appointed in 2005 before being replaced by John Kear a year later.
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As a player, Smith was part of Wigan's 1998 Grand Final winning side and in the 1995 Rugby League World Cup Final for England. He spent nine seasons with Castleford at the start of his career, making almost 200 appearances for the club. He is of no relation to Rohan.
His arrival at Leeds is the latest move to the club's coaching restructure in recent months. At the top, Rohan Smith became the first-team head coach and that saw Scott Grix and Chev Walker become his assistants.
Jason Davidson, who was the club's head of team management, has moved to Hull FC while assistant coach Sean Long has been appointed Featherstone Rovers' head coach. Jamie Jones-Buchanan, the other previous assistant, has moved roles to become the club's first ever head of culture, diversity and inclusivity.
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