England head coach Brian McDermott has dropped a key hint about how he will appoint his assistant coaches ahead of the 2026 Rugby League World Cup.
Announced as head coach last Thursday, McDermott revealed that assembling a coaching staff is his number one priority, telling Serious About Rugby League: “My first task is knocking together some staff and getting the staff finalised. That will take a couple of weeks at least.”
Looking at squads was another early consideration but McDermott emphasised the need for speed: “There’s a few things there that I’ll get into over the next coming weeks but I don’t want to drag my heels in any of this because quick as a flash we’ll be starting counting down to getting on the aeroplane to go to Perth. I’ll certainly rip into this work over the next two weeks or so.”
So whilst we know that a coaching staff could be assembled within the next fortnight, we’re yet to find out who the ex-Leeds Rhinos boss will appoint, though he did field questions on what could be expected.
Noting that he’s only contracted through to the end of the World Cup, McDermott admitted that his answer may well have been different if he had a longer tenure locked in but given the circumstances he wants maximum efficiency and impact and that could see him go for Australian-based coaches.
He revealed: “I’ve got to get a staff which is efficient and which is good and which suits the task ahead.
“I think if you give me a contract for five years, I might give it a bit of a different answer but we’ve got to do something for the World Cup and I’m only employed to the end of the World Cup.”
Specifically on British-based coaches, the Australian-based McDermott said: “As a lot of you alluded to, I have some thought and concern for coaches from Britain and from England but we’ve got to get the job done over here and over a short space of time.
“I think everybody will understand that you’ve just got to make it look as good as it can be and go for the most obvious staff which is going to help you be as good as you can be in the World Cup.”
Those comments would seem to suggest that at least part of his coaching staff will be based in Australia, with Shaun Wane’s assistant Andy Last recently admitting that he has not heard from the RFL since Wane’s resignation.
Lee Briers and Sam Tomkins were also involved in the England set-up but whether they have any role in McDermott’s staff is still to be seen.
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