Diccon Edwards Resigns from Leeds

Very sorry to hear about this.

In the latter half of the season he had built a young and very impressive side only just losing out to us in the Semi finals of the championship play offs.

I wonder the reason for him going...is it to move to a prem side..or as i suspect is it that more of his young side are being allowed to move on (than we have heard about yet), and he may have to build from scratch...

Bit of a shock, this. The indications are that it has come out of the blue but there's no way of knowing. He came to us from the RFU and I wonder if there's another appointment in the offing there. Where we go from here is anyone's guess, good coaches willing or wanting to coach in the championship are not thick on the ground but I hope the developing young group of players will attract the right man.

Is there a Prem side that's likely to recruit him? Not that I can think of. As for player departures, as they are young and unlikely to be expensive for the club I doubt the club is under pressure to release any of them. Jake Rowan hasn't made any noises about going but..... Maybe not being able to hang onto Dom Barrow had an impact but that's just one player and always on the cards.

Very worrying but the club is playing it down and saying they're under no pressure to appoint for a while as much of this part of pre season is conditioning work.

Guess it's wait and see time.

Perhaps London Welsh were able to offer him more resources. They certainly have signed some experienced players.

Rob Hunter the England Saxons coach is heading to Exeter isn't he? That could be an RFU based option.

There have been several well known coaches happy to sign on in the Championship. Haag at Notts, Robinson at Bristol and Richards at Falcons were all involved last season. There's a few high coaches at the minute kicking around like Hill (x2) and Back. A few former players are coaching in the league below, Bemand at Loughborough and Ollie Smith with Escher (with Chesney as forwards coach) are just two.

Any premiership clubs looking?  Leicester lost Matt O'Conner but appear satisfied to fill the void by shuffling coaches and adding Geordan Murphy so this would seem an unlikely destination.  Gloucester lost Carl Hogg to Worcester a couple of weeks ago.  There is talk of a reshuffle there as well, with Paul Moriarty possibly switching from defence to forwards, Tindall from back to defence then a new backs coach.  Edwards as Gloucester backs coach?  You'd be tempted looking at the talent you'd have to work with.  Any other premiership possibilities?

Sam, sorry but I really object to Neil Back being on your list, we've already tried that and haven't yet recovered. I wouldn't mind Richard Hill, always liked him. Deano was one of those lucky timing situations and Falcons have really benefitted. I'm not sure Diccon's done enough with Carnegie to tempt an AP outfit. Could see the Saxons position being a possibility, he's kind of in the loop.

Leeds then Saxons, does this mean we're looking at the next England head coach?

Yeah I realised after I posted that Backie isn't well liked up in Yorkshire after the last debacle.

Richard Hill would be a great option as he knows the division and has brought through plenty of quality players from the Worcester academy. Maybe at Leeds he'll have more success retaining them.

The other Hill has left the Sarries academy coaching setup and I believe is on the market. Might be too raw for the head job though but could join the coaching staff and could there be a better mentor for young Rowan?

It all depends on who's up to the challenge and has the skill set for it. There's plenty to work with up here. Things were looking OK in the latter part of the season and we do keep bringing youngsters through. You'ld like to think it an attractive proposition. There are plenty of AP clubs who don't have the facilities that we do and the dual code ownership is probably the only reason we've survived. Really top coaching is what we are missing.

Ollie Smith has left Esher after a season as head coach. Could be looking for a step up.

Part of me hopes he's coming home as defence coach but I guess he's more backs orientated so could be heading to Leeds.It would be closer to home than London as well.

From Yorkshire Post Newspapers:

Leeds Rhinos assistant-coach James Lowes has emerged as a shock contender to become new team boss at rugby union sister club Leeds Carnegie.

Lowes was appointed as Rhinos coach Brian McDermott’s right-hand man before the start of the 2011 season, but has also assisted with coaching at Carnegie.
The union outfit are without a head coach following Diccon Edwards’ resignation this week, after two years in charge.
Rhinos and Carnegie share facilities and some support staff and taking over there would give Lowes the opportunity to remain part of the Leeds set-up, while also achieving his ambition of returning to head coaching.
A former top rugby league player with Hunslet, Leeds and Bradford, Lowes, 43, was assistant coach at Salford City Reds and Warrington Wolves.
He also had a spell in charge of Warrington and is currently on the England backroom team.
He played lower level union – after his league retirement – at Leeds outfit West Park.
Lowes is keen for his own top job and was set to be appointed Castleford Tigers coach earlier this year, only to withdraw his interest at the last minute.

Something of a gamble but could bring some interesting thinking to the group. Not sure about it though.

Depends on who else makes up the coaching staff. Would need a good forwards coach to be his right hand man.

James Lowes has been confirmed as head coach for next season. Just hope it pays off.