Jake Connor is a player that has had a career full of ‘what ifs’, being touted as one of the big stars for the future but then feeling the weight of the pressure on him.
After his time at Hull FC from 2017-2022 where he made 142 appearances, Connor returned to the Huddersfield Giants in 2023.
However, the club at which he originally started his Super League career could seemingly not get the best out of, at one time, one of the sport’s brightest prospects, leading the 30-year-old to join Leeds Rhinos for the 2025 season.
While the skill, flair, and knowledge of the game are there for Connor, Rhinos head coach Brad Arthur has been spending his time in pre-season ensuring that Connor fully understands what his team-mates need out of him and how he can perform at his best.
Indeed, those conversations started with a very tough one, with Arthur honestly telling Connor that at that current moment, he was not in good enough shape where he would be playing for his side come week one of Super League.
“I love winning and don’t love the pain of losing – but the one thing I love about coaching is getting the opportunity to improve players and working with those guys who are a bit of a project,” Arthur told Sky Sports’ The Bench podcast.
“I try to pride myself on that and that is probably where my strength has been as a coach.
“There is not a lot of the footy I need to worry about or teach him, he understands the game but it is just him understanding what his team-mates are going to value out of him more in his game.
“It is around his effort areas, his physicality, how he fits in them plays with his team and not on his own. I think that is where we are going to see the benefit this year.
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“He has bought into everything and I have had some real tough conversations. The first conversation was ‘I don’t think you are fit enough and I don’t think you are going to be in the team week one’.
“He said ‘no worries, thank you for the honesty, I will make sure I do something about it’. I loved that.
“Then at Christmas time I said ‘I think you have improved but I still don’t think you are there yet’. To his credit, he has worked hard and at times the boys have seen a lot of good things then they have seen some things that they weren’t happy about and they have had conversations with him.
“But just his ability to accept that for what it is and understand that everybody is just trying to make me better. I hope for his sake he has a good year.”
‘He has underachieved and we want him to achieve’
Although Arthur has not been coaching in Super League for long, he is aware that Connor has had a career full of ifs, buts and maybes.
Now, with the Rhinos, the aim for both the club and the player is for him to keep being receptive to improvement so that everyone gets the best out of each other.
“I think this is the chance to get the best out of himself,” Arthur added.
“Obviously there is a very good player there. This is all from reports but I have been told he has underachieved the whole way through his career.
“I think he is enjoying also being in a team where he doesn’t have to do anything and there isn’t the weight of the world on his shoulders.
“I think that will help him, he is a great bloke, and he has been receptive to everything we are trying to do.
“I have said to him ‘Sometimes I need you to actually listen when I talk and I don’t need you to have an answer for me’.
“He understands the game so well but sometimes I need him to just listen, go away think about it, then come back with your answer.
“We just keep drilling away at it and this is what is best for the team.”
You can watch the Leeds Rhinos get their Super League campaign under way on Saturday February 15 vs Wakefield Trinity, live on Sky Sports at 3pm. Sky Sports will again show every game of the Super League live this season – including two matches in each round exclusively live, with the remaining four matches each week shown on Sky Sports+
