Leeds Rhinos assistant boss Chev Walker admitted he was extremely nervous ahead of his first match in charge of the club.
Walker is an assistant to new head coach David Furnier but he was handed the reins for Sunday’s pre-season warm-up clash at Featherstone as the Rhinos fought back from 22-4 down to win 28-32 with a side made up of mainly Academy players.
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Of his brief spell as boss, Walker said: “I’ve always been an assistant throughout my coaching career so it was a massive honour to coach the team, being a Leeds lad. “I was as nervous as the players to begin with.
You don’t realise how much pressure’s on the head coach, but just stick to your guns and you come through with it. I enjoyed it.”
Walker thanked the Academy coaches who are responsible for the progression of the youngsters in the side. “Credit to [academy coaches] Rob [Burrow] and Jonny [Wainhouse], they have put a lot of work in,” he told reporters.
“There were some lads who have stepped up from last year’s scholarship and they held their own and they got us back into the game.”
