Warrington Wolves CEO Karl Fitzpatrick has revealed the reasons why the club opted to bring in Steve McNamara, and who’s idea it was to make the call.
McNamara was announced at Warrington in October, ahead of the 2026 campaign.
After a seven-and-a-half year stint as head coach of Catalans, where he won a Challenge Cup, League Leaders Shield and got to two Grand Finals, the club parted ways with the 54-year-old half way through 2025, after a string of poor results.
The former Bradford boss was also head coach of England between 2010 and 2015, and has had prior coaching roles with Sydney Roosters and New Zealand Warriors.
Joining the Wolves as an assistant boss, McNamara will hope use his experience to get Warrington back into the play-offs, after the missed out on the finals last season.
CEO Fitzpatrick has been very vocal on how he thinks the former national team boss will help the current side, and after appearing on The Bench Podcast, gave more insight into his switch to the club.
Asked how McNamara’s move came about, and who’s idea it was, the CEO said: “Sam was really keen to bring Steve in.
“Obviously, Sam’s a young coach. His first year, he did incredibly well, and even the second year, we got to the Challenge Cup Final.
“You think, Sam’s first two years coaching a top flight club, you’ve got two Challenge Cup finals. In year one, the dubious decision with the Joe Burgess try, otherwise we’d have got to the Grand Final.
“Sam’s smart, and he’s acutely aware that he probably needs a little bit more of an experienced head around him, and there’s not many more experienced than Steve McNamara.
“He’s very calm, very considered, and he compliments Sam, who very charismatic, and a big character, so we’re excited to see how that relationship develops.”
Steve McNamara’s Warrington Wolves role discussed
Revealing how the dynamic currently works, Fitzpatrick added: “They get stuck into each other, which is great.
“But, Steve’s very clear that Sam is the head coach as well. Which I think is quite really important. There’s no [power struggle].
“And you could raise the question, well, is there going to be a trust issue there? And that’s been addressed. As you say, they go back many, many years. But no, they’re really good together. They’re very different.
Sam Tomkins, who was a guest presenter on the show filling in for Jon Wilkin, added: “I could see how they could work, because I know Sam and I know Steve, polar opposite people.
“Sam’s real big character, a voice. I can imagine him spraying the lads if they’re not doing well, pumping the tyres up when they are doing well.
“The opposite of that is Steve. Steve likes big wins, don’t get too high. Losses, don’t get too low.”
Tomkins continued: “What’s interesting is the one thing that Sam Burgess hasn’t got as a coach is experience. And you manage to bring in Steve that’s probably been through every scenario, been to grand finals, a million pound game.
“He’s been an international coach, coached at Bradford, coached abroad. So I think it’s a real smart employment in the fact that the one thing that you could say Sam Burgess doesn’t have, which is just time in the job. You bring someone in that’s been doing it for 20 years, so I could see how it works.”
