Ryan Carr hot favourite to take over as coach at Leeds Rhinos in Super League

A former Wests Tigers and South Sydney player with an extensive coaching resume has emerged as favourite to take over as coach of a Super League giant.

Eels assistant coach Ryan Carr is favourite to coach Leeds.

A little-known coach at Parramatta is poised to land one of the plum gigs in England’s Super League.

Ryan Carr, a former Wests Tigers and South Sydney player, has emerged favourite to take over as coach of giant club, Leeds Rhinos. Carr is Parramatta’s NSW Cup coach and also part of Brad Arthur’s NRL coaching staff.

Leeds have begun their search for a new coach after Richard Agar stood down after his side won just one from six games to start this season.

Stream every game of every round of the 2022 NRL Telstra Premiership Season Live & Ad-Break Free In Play on Kayo. New to Kayo? Try 14-Days Free Now >

Carr is one of several candidates for the Rhinos’ top position.

He is also highly regarded in Australia and may yet look to remain here with his young family to chase an NRL coaching job.

Former Souths and Tigers player Ryan Carr is among the contenders to coach Leeds in the Super League.

Parramatta officials are aware Carr is being courted by Leeds, although it’s unknown whether the club would release him immediately should he be given the role. If successful, Carr may complete this year at CommBank Stadium and head to England during the off-season.

Carr’s NSW Cup side has won one of two games this season.

Agar turned down an offer to help Craig Fitzgibbon at Cronulla this season to remain in England. Now a free agent, Agar may look at returning to Australia to continue coaching.

Carr, 33, has enjoyed a long, if low key, coaching career.

He coached South Sydney’s NYC side in 2016, arriving at Redfern after a stint as an assistant to John Morris in the Sharks under-20s side.

Carr took over from Mick Potter at Parramatta having previously coached Featherstone in England and Mounties, Canberra’s feeder club.

Many claim Carr is a “first grade coach-in-waiting”.

Carr has previously been linked to the Leeds top coaching job.

Former Rabbitohs coach Michael Maguire once said Carr had an “excellent knowledge of the game. He was a smart player with a real football brain and he’s now using that in his coaching work.”

Carr responded by saying: “I’ve been fortunate to have been at a lot of good clubs, I’ve done a bit of travelling, learning off guys like Michael Maguire and Ricky Stuart – they’ve helped me out immensely.”

Agar had considerable success at Leeds, guiding the famous Yorkshire club to the 2020 Challenge Cup. Current Leeds assistant coach Jamie Jones-Buchanan will take interim charge for Saturday‘s Challenge Cup match against Castleford.

Speaking from England, Rhinos chief executive Gary Hetherington said the hunt had started to replace Agar.

“We do plan to appoint a new head coach and will apply a comprehensive recruitment process but there is no predetermined timescale for this appointment,” Hetherington said.

“Normally with teams in this position, it is easy to identify the causes of a downturn in form such as this but in our case it is a difficult one to solve.

“The team’s preparation has been good each week, the spirit within the group has been strong throughout and our coaches and backroom staff have worked tirelessly to provide our players with excellent support.”