England head coach Brian McDermott has confirmed his coaching staff and admitted that things would be easier if he were to retain the role for 2027, even noting that he hopes to coach for a further four years and take England into the 2030 Rugby League World Cup.
The World Cup starts in exactly a month, though England will not play until October 17th when they face off against Tonga in Perth. Whilst he is yet to confirm his 23-man squad for the tournament, McDermott has spoken to media and announced who his coaching staff will be down under.
Several of the staff are already based down under, including ex-St Helens coach and current North Queensland Cowboys assistant Paul Wellens, but Wigan Warriors’ Sean O’Loughlin is one of the prominent names based in England.
When asked about the preparation of all the logistics that go into arranging a World Cup, McDermott admitted that he was having to start from scratch and that for him, the staffing was the ‘big one’.
He explained: “The staff was a big one for me because I’m not going to do everything. I can’t do everything. I don’t want to do everything.
“But to keep the same message and to have the same philosophy about how you lead and how you want to play, you’ve got to spend time with your staff.”
Paul Wellens and Sean O’Loughlin hailed by Brian McDermott
McDermott then revealed who they were, confirming some names who had previously been reported: “I’ve spent an enormous amount of time with Paul Wellens and Sean O’Loughlin.
“Jason Davidson is our operations manager. Carl Jennings is our high-performance guy. Matty Daniels is the S&C guy who came on board after Ade Gardner pulled out.
“When one of the squad members are talking to any one of the members of the staff, there can’t be any contradiction. There’s got to be a consistent message and that’s been the hard work for me.”
Speaking in more depth on both Wellens and O’Loughlin, who will serve as assistants, McDermott revealed that the trio had been in very regular contact.
He confirmed: “We’ve had a lot of contact. Paul Wellens and I, Sean O’Loughlin for sure. We jump on a teams call and we’ve done a ton, just us three together, talking about squads, talking about tactics, defensive strategies, the state of the game, everything. Everything we’ve covered off.
“I’ve shared some phone calls with Lockers individually, as I have with Wello, and they’ve been great. You’ve got to bare in mind that they’ve been two of the best players that we’ve produced as a country and arguably they’ve been two of the better performers internationally that we’ve produced.
“I’ve learnt a ton off them over the last few months about rep football and the mentality towards World Cup squads and how things should be done. They’ve been really good as well.”
McDermott also revealed how it can be difficult managing just how much he leans on the pair given that they are both in full-time employment at their respective clubs, particularly in regards O’Loughlin who obviously is on the other side of the world.
He said: “They’ve been very helpful, very respectful and they’re both full-time so I’ve got to be careful if I’m texting them at two in the morning or two in the afternoon so I’ve been mindful of leaning on them too much. But they’ve been great.”
