“It is such a prestigious role": Leeds Rhinos chief Brad Arthur in frame for England job

England have been without a team boss since January when Shaun Wane stepped down after six years in the role. A panel, including former Rhinos captain Kevin Sinfield, was set up two weeks ago to choose a new part-time coach ahead of the World Cup which begins in October.

Arthur has made no secret of his interest in the job and speaking at his weekly preview press conference today (Tuesday) he confirmed: “I had an interview yesterday.” The Australian, who joined Leeds almost two years ago after a decade as coach of NRL club Parramatta Eels, said: “I was very happy with the process and the opportunity they gave me.

“It is such a prestigious role, I would love the opportunity to do it. I have got wonderful support here from the club, they are right behind me. Now it’s up to those guys [the selection panel].

“They have some great candidates, which they’ll get through this week. Maybe the following week we’ll get some more information about it, but at the moment I have done my interview, put that away and now my focus is on Leeds Rhinos.”

Brian McDermott, who led Rhinos to four Betfred Super League titles and is now an assistant at NRL outfit Gold Coast Titans, has also been linked to the role, along with Warrington Wolves’ Sam Burgess and St Helens coach Paul Rowley. Leeds visit Huddersfield Giants on Friday and Arthur stressed he would feel “honoured, privileged and grateful to Leeds Rhinos” if he got the England job.

He stressed: “Leeds Rhinos are the ones who’ve put me in the frame for this and gave me the opportunity to come over here and coach. Not just the club, but also the playing group - if they didn’t have the buy-in and weren’t trying, I wouldn’t be in the frame either. There’s a long way to go and lots of good candidates so I am not sure where it will end up, but I am very happy here and focussed on my job at Leeds.”

Arthur has explained Harry Newman’s loan move to rivals Hull FC and revealed his status with Leeds Rhinos for the rest of this season.

Newman played in Rhinos’ opening seven games of 2026, but his place in the right-centre for the past two has been taken by recent signing Jack Bird. Newman, who will join new NRL club Perth Bears next year, today linked up with Hull on an initial one-week deal and is set to feature against St Helens on Thursday.

However, Arthur insisted that is to give the 26-year-old England man game time at the top level and stressed Newman remains part of his plans for the remainder of this campaign. “Harry missed out on selection this week,” Arthur said at his weekly preview press conference today (Tuesday) ahead of Friday’s visit to Huddersfield Giants.

“I spoke to him last week about him needing to get some game time and gave him the weekend to think about it. It has been a couple of weeks since he played and he wants to play at Super League level, which I am supportive of.

“He is here for the season, he is clear on that and we are clear on that. He wants to be here for the season and wants to fight his way back into the team. He will get some game time with Hull this week and that will be a week-to-week proposition. They were in need of a bloke of his quality so it fits for Harry, it fits for us as a club and it fits for Hull.”

Rhinos have no injuries among Rhinos’ first-choice players and Arthur added: “We wanted competition for spots and we have got that. We have a healthy squad and we have got to make the most of it.

“We could be sitting here talking about having 10 injuries. This is a healthy situation, everyone has been open and honest and Harry has taken it the right way and he is going to do something about trying to get himself back in the team.

“Harry is a great player. If he is playing his best footy, he is part of our best team - that’s what we have got to get back to. We are both on the same page with that and this is the best way for him to do it.”

Forward Ben Littlewood, who featured twice off the bench this season and was on loan at Hunslet RLFC last weekend, is set to play for York Knights against Leigh Leopards on Friday on a similar one-week arrangement. Arthur said: “We had a couple of other guys who were close to playing for other clubs, but it didn’t work out this week.

“It is a week-to-week proposition; we have a reserves game this week so those guys will get some game time, but because that’s a fortnightly event we need to make sure we are ticking these guys over with minutes. I hope it doesn’t happen, but things change very quickly around injuries and whatnot.”

The new one-week loan system means players can be loaned out without the risk of weakening their parent club. “They are still our players, they are still part of this team and this club and we want them to feel like that,” Arthur stated.

“We are not sending them out to get rid of them, we are sending them out so they get some game time, get something out of it and keep challenging the rest of the team. We want them to come back each week so they still feel part of Leeds Rhinos, because that’s what they are.

“They are Leeds Rhinos players, they are not going anywhere. We want them here at this club, we are just in a really fortunate position with the health of our squad.”