Leeds Rhinos new Sporting Director, in charge of finding a new head coach, has provided a promising update on their search for a successor to Rohan Smith.
Blease, appointed last month, sacked Rohan Smith during his first week in the role following a poor start to the season, which culminated in an embarrassing defeat to Hull FC.
Since then, there has been plenty of speculation as to who the new man for the job could be, with plenty of talk of Paul Rowley potentially joining Brodie Croft and Andy Ackers in swapping Salford for Leeds, especially as he worked with Blease at Salford – and he was instrumental in bringing him into his current role.
There have also been suggestions that Brad Arthur could make the move after a decade at Parramatta Eels in the NRL.
However, so far, it hasn’t become any clearer who will be the new man in the hot seat at Headingley.
Now, Ian Blease has shared an update that should have Leeds Rhinos excited.
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“High-calibre candidates”: Ian Blease provides promising Leeds Rhinos head coach update
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Speaking to the Yorkshire Evening Post, Blease said: “I am working through the candidates, that’s what I have been doing since last week.
“We’ve had some high-calibre candidates that I am working through and we’ll be getting to the next stage [in the coming] week.”
He also said there would was interest in the role from both the UK and overseas, with a possibility for someone to come over from Australia.
This may well include Brad Arthur, who did not meet Manly Sea Eagles last week despite reports suggesting that he had.
Leeds Rhinos are a big club, and he continued: “I think it’s fair to say, the size of the club and size of the job, it is a different calibre of people who would apply to Leeds than other clubs.”
He also said it was likely that Chev Walker and Scott Grix would still be in charge when they face London Broncos this week.
