Interesting appointment seems to have gained a good reputation for the impact he has had at Sale and they have finished in the top 3 last couple of years in the RU premiership. I think the coaching team needed freshening up the players probably needed an additional voice for change so that it wasn't all on Arthur. Sale just down the road from Salford so looks like this appointment has been influenced by Blease who may have had an eye on Langley development as a coach given the proximity.

No idea how Langley will fair, but needed someone to replace Walker / Grix.

Chev and Grixy aren't going anywhere. Chev is moving sideways to be a transition/pathways coach, Grix is keeping on, keeping on.

Well Langley was playing in SL when you joined RLFANS.com and continued to do so for three more years after that. People only have good things to say about it him so it sounds like a good move for Leeds.

What I posted on the transfer thread yesterday:
It says Langley`s next assignment is to work with Rhinos head coach Brad Arthur and fellow assistant coach Scott Grix - with Chev Walker in a newly created role as transitional coach, working with players moving from academy and reserves into the first-team squad.

Seems a strange move all round with Langley coaching in Union for a number of years and Grix and Walker not ones you would think bring a right lot to the coaching set up.

I'm still bemused by the uncertainty of Arthur's future . It's being said he really wants to return to the NRL ,but will give an answer by end of year about his longterm future. If it's just one season then start again ?

I think he just wanted to draw wages while waiting for another opportunity in the NRL.

Talk about jobs for the boys. I don’t wonder we’ve been unable to spend up to the full salary cap recently.

Coaches aren't on the salary cap.

It's positive that we are going to know by the new year. If he extends great, if he doesn’t we have got plenty of time to get the right man, while we still have an excellent coach at the helm. Wane was openly expressing an interest in a return to club coaching ( and the Leeds job) a couple of weeks ago so if we fancy another stern disciplinarian in the Arthur mold, he might be an obvious candidate.

Academy to first team could probably be the most important part of the clubs success/failure over the next 3 years.

I think it’s a good move

I agree that this is an important role but my concern is if you are referring to Walker he wasn`t very good as an assistant coach and if memory serves me right he didn`t do that well with the youngsters. Although I might be proved wrong on that comment by those more in the know.

Wasn't Walker the coach when we won the Academy GF in 2022? I do wonder if the Arthur/Blease view is that the Smith approach didn't get the best of the coaches, not just the players. Pure guesswork though.

You might be right AC as I say my memory isn`t that good and reading the negative comments on here about Walker has probably soured my judgement of him.

I wonder if Tony Smith will still be in his academy coaching role for 2025?
I wonder if the club could actually replace Tony Smith with Tony Smith (Our previous head coach) for 2025?

That's me totally guessing by the way,But IMO he could be the ideal fit to be the head of our clubs academy