Hull FC: Potential remaining candidates to be new head coach

Hull FC are without a head coach following the departure of Tony Smith, and there are still a number of candidates to take the vacant role.

After a nightmare start to the season, picking up just one win and conceding a club-record number of points at this stage in the season, Smith became the first Super League coach to face the axe in 2024.

There’s a feeling within the Black and Whites’ fanbase that Smith was dealt a bad hand, and wasn’t the main issue at the club.

It may, therefore, be a tough job to persuade top coaches to take, but a change in structure, with Richie Myler arriving as Director ahead of an expected investment, could tempt a number of notable names into the job.

This wasn’t the case as we saw with the news yesterday though, as Salford Red Devils head coach Paul Rowley rejected an approach and will remain at Salford, perhaps underlining there is still not the best perception of Hull FC despite the changes in the background.

However, the allure of a big club, and a Super League head coach role, could present a huge opportunity for some others in the game.

Something we have learnt from FC’s approach for Rowley, is that Chairman Adam Pearson and new Director of Rugby Myler might be keen on bringing in a British coach following the failings of Brett Hodgson and then Smith.

With that in mind, here are six candidates that we think could fill the role, focusing on coaches closer to home who have huge potential or a growing reputation in Super League, just like Rowley.

Danny McGuire

The current assistant coach at Castleford Tigers is an iconic figure in British rugby league.

Making over 400 appearances for Leeds Rhinos, and winning eight Super League titles, three League Leaders’ Shields, two Challenge Cups and three World Club Challenges, he cemented himself as one of the all-time greats.

He finished his career, however, with Hull FC’s city rivals, before moving into a coaching role with the Robins.

Although he’s never had a permanent head coaching role, he was interim head coach for Hull KR in 2022, where he led his side to five wins from ten games in charge, showing that he’s probably capable of making the step up.

At that time, he stabilised the side… following the departure of Tony Smith. Could history repeat itself?

Castleford are another side struggling this season, and if McGuire decides that he’d like to jump ship, this could be a good option.

Brian McDermott

Once a Super League mainstay, there are few coaches that have more experience than Brian McDermott.

After his glittering playing career, where he stayed at Bradford Bulls for the entirety of his playing days, he took coaching roles Huddersfield Giants and Leeds Rhinos.

His first head coach role was at Harlequins RL, now London Broncos, where he stayed for five seasons, from 2006 to 2010.

He then cemented his name as one of the greats during his long spell at Leeds Rhinos, where he won four Grand Finals, a League Leaders’ Shield, back-to-back Challenge Cups and the World Club Challenge.

During his time at the Rhinos, he also signed Richie Myler in 2018 – who is now Director of Rugby at Hull FC; he may want to repay the favour, and sign his former boss to the Black and Whites role.

He’s since struggled to achieve such success, with a Covid-threatened spell at Toronto Wolfpack and a disappointing experience at Featherstone Rovers, which culminated in 2022, being the last we’ve seen of him as a head coach so far.

He’s now assistant at Newcastle Knights.

As someone that’s not currently in a head coach role, he’s could look to join a new club – and with Hull FC the only vacant Super League role at the moment, he could see this as an opportunity to get back within British rugby league’s elite.

Danny Ward

Of these candidates, Danny Ward is the one that most recently had a Super League head coach role.

After coaching their youth teams, and being assistant coach, he was promoted to head coach at London Broncos in 2018, and guided them to promotion in his year year as a head coach, beating Toronto Wolfpack in the Million Pound Game.

He couldn’t however, keep them up in 2019, despite winning ten games and finishing on equal points with Hull KR, and just one win behind Wakefield Trinity and Huddersfield Giants.

Two years after leaving the Broncos, he took the top job at Castleford Tigers for the final six games of the 2023 season, with a win in his first game against local and relegation-rivals Wakefield Trinity enough to keep the Tigers up.

This feels like an unlikely one – he’s at Hull KR as assistant coach on a two-year deal currently, and reportedly rejected taking the role at Castleford permanently.

This suggests that he’s not in a rush to take another head coach job – and this wouldn’t be all too different to the one he rejected at Wheldon Road, which he said was for ‘personal’ reasons.

Richard Horne

A great servant of the club, this could be an interesting move.

After making his debut at the age of 16, Horne played for Hull FC from 1998 to 2014, being a one-club man in his playing days and making 383 appearances in black and white.

He had a spectacular career, setting a record of scoring in thirteen straight games, a Super League record, and playing in the halves for their 2005 Challenge Cup final victory over Leeds Rhinos.

He had a testimonial match with the Black and Whites in 2010, with over 16,000 supporters attending the pre-season fixture against Hull KR.

After retirement, he had a spell as an assistant coach under Lee Radford.

Since 2017, he’s been head coach at Doncaster RLFC.

There, he’s achieved great success – after two promotion final losses in a row, his side achieved promotion back to the Championship in 2023, defeating North Wales Crusaders 18-6 on home turf.

The newly-promoted side have had a very reasonable start to the season, beating the York City Knights 36-20 in their first game back in the second tier.

Since then, the Dons have faced losses to three of the league’s top sides, Sheffield Eagles, Wakefield Trinity and Featherstone Rovers.

However, they comfortably beat Barrow Raiders 38-6 at the weekend.

This could be an outside-the-box move for Hull FC – he’s a relatively new coach, who has experienced some success with weaker 13s than they have – but it would be a huge risk to bring someone in that’s only just made the step up to the second tier, and has no experience as a head coach in Super League.

He does, though, know the league as a player, and his assistant coach experience under Radford could prove incredibly useful.

Lee Briers

Lee Briers has been touted as one of the club’s top targets in recent days.

A legend for Warrington in his playing days, making over 400 appearances, the former Wales international was an exciting half-back.

Previously a coach at Warrington, and Wigan Warriors assistant coach, he headed Down Under ahead of the 2023 season, joining the Brisbane Broncos ahead of the 2023 season as an attacking coach.

He’s also joined the England set-up as an assistant coach, alongside Andy Last, supporting Shaun Wane.

Wane said on him: “He’s the one that pushed it. He wants to be involved and has shown that desire.”

Clearly, he’s someone that likes to get involved with new opportunities, and a return to Super League, in a head coach role, may be that new opportunity he’s looking for.

Simon Grix

Simon Grix was assistant coach under Tony Smith, so already knows the club and squad well.

The former Ireland international made 164 appearances for Warrington Wolves between 2006 and 2015, scoring 47 tries and winning three Challenge Cups, and spent two spells at Halifax Panthers.

He has experience as a head coach too: after being interim manager, he was handed the Halifax job on a permanent basis in 2019.

In 2021, his side finished third in the Championship, but were knocked out of the playoffs in the semi-finals, against Featherstone Rovers.

He followed this up with another third-placed finish in 2022, and an 1895 Cup victory at Wembley in 2023.

The 38-year-old also seemingly has coaching in his blood: his cousin, Michael Collins, is a former Bradford City FC manager, and currently leads Sheffield United’s under-21s.

He only joined Hull FC for the start of the 2024 season, in a move which was confirmed in October last year.

This would be the safe option for the club, who know they are probably safe from relegation due to their IMG ranking.

Keeping the interim, and going for a big name ahead of 2025 might be the way forward for Adam Pearson and Richie Myler.