Getting to Know: Rhinos Academy Assistant Coach Simon Brown

Find out more about the newest member of Leeds Rhinos Academy's coaching staff, Simon Brown, who returned to the club in 2025 as an assistant coach after playing in the Rhinos' Scholarship and Academy as a junior.

Brown first came through at the Rhinos after playing in the Scholarship from Lock Lane before joining the Academy in 2006. Over three years coming through the ranks with Leeds, first as a Junior Academy player before going on to play in the Senior Academy and Reserves, he notably played a part in the 2007 Junior Academy Grand Final victory over St Helens at AMT Headingley. He moved away from the club in 2010 when he got the opportunity to test himself in the Championship with Sheffield Eagles and Doncaster and over 11 years, he played 105 games at half back for the Eagles under Mark Aston as well as 65 games for Hunslet, 20 games for York, 16 games for Doncaster, 12 games for Halifax, 11 games for Dewsbury and three for Batley.

He returned to the Eagles in 2022 as an assistant coach under Aston and helped the club to a fourth-place finish in 2023 - their best finish to a season since 2015. After stepping away from Sheffield last year, his journey came full circle when we re-joined Leeds in February 2025 as Brown helps build the next generation of players alongside Transition Coach and Academy Head Coach Chev Walker.