Leeds committed to homegrown policy despite play-off heartache

Leeds’s hopes of returning to the top flight ended at a rain-lashed Kingston Park yesterday as Diccon Edwards’s side lost 15-6 in the second leg of the play-off semi-final and 34-30 on aggregate.

After finishing 31 points below Newcastle in the regular season it was a tremendous effort by Leeds to push the promotion favourites so close.

And when considering that Newcastle meet the £4m Premiership salary cap while Leeds’s budget is only half that, it reinforces how close they came to defying the odds.

But Hetherington says Leeds will not follow Newcastle’s lead and throw money at trying to get back into English rugby’s elite.

The Headingley club aim to come back stronger next season by staying loyal to their principles of recruiting players primarily from Yorkshire.

A large portion of their squad is homegrown either through the academy or recruited from clubs in the region.

Furthermore, 90 per cent of their squad will be back to challenge for promotion next season.

One man who won’t be is fly-half Joe Ford, who is set to join Sale, but Leeds have already secured his replacement in the shape of Moseley’s No 10 Glyn Hughes.

Hetherington said: “The policy that we have adopted is one to grow a side primarily through Yorkshire talent and for that team to mature and develop to the point where at some stage, hopefully, it will become good enough to achieve promotion.

“You need to supplement that with the best quality players that are available, which we will continue to do.

“As we’ve seen in this sport and other sports, financial excess is not the way to build a team.

“People keep referring to budgets, and there is an obsession with buying players and spending money in rugby union.

“That’s not our obsession at all, we’re all about building a team and that takes time.

“It’s impossible to say when it’s going to mature and sometimes it may never do.

“But that is our policy and there’s nobody wanting to change that policy.

“We’ve got some outstanding facilities and amenities, staff and everything else.

“So we’re a pretty well-resourced Championship club that’s got the whole county of talent to tap into,” he said.

“It was our stated policy when we announced it two years ago and that won’t change and nor should it change.

“Nobody wants it to change. It’s the policy (executive chairman) Ian McGeechan has totally supported since he came into the club.

“What often gets overlooked is the focus to build a team and that’s what we’re trying to do – build a team.”

Leeds’s principles are adhered to in the dugout as well with head coach Edwards a firm believer that despite yesterday’s disappointment, embracing the best Yorkshire has to offer will ultimately prove successful.

“I certainly believe it will be enough and the players do as well,” said Edwards.

“If you looked at the huge improvement that’s been in us over the course of the last nine months to where we are now, and look at the continuity we’ve got going into next season, and the results we’ve just put in against a team that spent huge amounts of money, then I’m very confident we’ll be competitive next year and improve on this year’s display.

“I genuinely believe that we could have knocked Newcastle out over these two legs and would have gone down to Bedford with real confidence.

“We’re not that far away. We need to continue to show the same belief and trust in a philosophy that will pay dividends.

“It’s not a short-term thing. It’s about continuity and showing trust and faith in what we’re doing.

“When we get back into this stage of the competition next season we’ll be better equipped for the experiences we’ve had this year.”

Leeds were beaten by the boot of Newcastle fly-half Jimmy Gopperth, who kicked five penalties to the one by Ford, who also added a drop goal for Leeds.

But it was the resilience of the Carnegie defence that was so impressive.

To a man they defended the line as if their careers depended on it, only to come up agonisingly short by just four points.

Edwards added: “The initial emotion is disappointment because we’re so close.

“By my own nature, when I watch the video back I’ll be frustrated because I’ll feel, as I do now, that we’ve let an opportunity slip.

“Right now though I just want to credit the players for the attitude they’ve shown and the way they’ve approached the game.

“I’m sure they themselves will be disappointed and frustrated that with a little bit better execution and clearer thinking under pressure we could have won.

“So the disappointment will lead to frustration and that will then lead to a desire to make sure we put it right and build on all the good work of last season and hit the ground running next season.

“With the continuity in the playing staff we’ve got for next season there are many positives to take.”

On his side’s defence, Edwards said: “There are two aspects to defending, and the one you can’t teach is attitude.

“That’s what we’ve got with this group of players.

“To have both the attitude and the application that we’ve had and limit Newcastle to one freak score over two games speaks volumes about the development of our game.

“With that foundation laid it gives us a positive outlook for next year.”