CLUB chairman Bill Quinn publicly and formally welcomed our new head coach Sean Long before making this statement:
AT LAST we have in place our new head coach, Sean Long. Sorry, it has taken so long for us to get to the situation in which we can confirm and announce his decision to join us, but the best moves usually do take a while – and Sean’s appointment is certainly in that category !
I would like to enlighten our supporters on the process we had to go through.
We first interviewed Sean when he left Featherstone. Myself and Mike spent more than two hours with him. My previous perception of Sean was totally wrong. He came across fantastically well. We explained our vision, the passion for the club and the direction in which we were taking it. Sean bought into that and explained his situation at Fev, which showed me he has resilience. We never once spoke about money in that interview – just about the club, its fans, our direction – and rugby.
Unfortunately for us, Sean got the call from Wakefield and he took up that challenge, which was understandable. We then advertised and interviewed several others. The calibre of those interested was very high and came from far and wide, but the situation at Wakefield had developed and we sat back a little. In the meantime, players came on board and lots of them mentioned Sean and had great things to say about him. As an aside, I can tell you the new players have also bought into the vision and want to be on this journey. Before today’s big announcement, we sat down with Sean again and, as you already know, we are delighted to have him on a three-year contract as we build and create our own history going forward.
No matter what the structure is for 2024, we are on the march. All we need now is for our supporters to get behind us. By signing all those players and now unveiling Sean as head coach we have shown our intentions as a board.
SO COME ON EVERYONE. LET’S GO ON THIS JOURNEY TOGETHER.
You can hear Mike (Ford) and Sean on BBC Radio Manchester at 6.30pm tonight so tune in and listen to these two rugby men.
Thanks for all your patience and remember our catchphase: ‘ Stronger together’.
Your chairman,
BILL QUINN
