I think so too, he could probably have an assistant coach UK based. Was it not about a year ago he said he wanted to spend more time with his wife and handicapped son and he owed them a lot of "home time".

McNamara informed his contract will not be renewed.

Disappointed for him, not sure what else he could have achieved results wise given the players at his disposal.

He was a hairs breadth from getting us to a WC final and Four Nations final, but that's just it, he failed.I will give him his dews he has done a fine job on the whole but its hard to not come to the conclusion he has taken us as far as he can on the back of the last series which although we won, we were up against a side with no half backs and looked pretty clueless at times.Glad we scraped the win though and he got to go out on a positive note, he can look back on a job well done but it's absolutely the right time to move on imo, this team is capable of winning a big series in the coming years and obviously the powers that be agree Mcnamara is not the guy who will get us over the obvious mental block that clearly exists in getting this done. Kudos to them because i expected him to be kept on till the next WC.

He was lucky not to be sacked after the defeat by Italy - the most shameful result in English RL history. He was certainly lucky to survive not getting to the World Cup final, which should have been the minimum expectation in 2013.

I guess Bennett will be a coaching consultancy role for the tournament, working over a junior head coach who will act as his eyes and ears over here.

Wellens maybe, as an outside shot for that role? Hopefully not James Lowes.

This. 100% This.

Paul Rowley?

I'm not sorry to see the back of McBanana

So why not?

Now announced as head coach www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/35472600

Now announced as head coach www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/35472600

Hopefully Powel as assistant with a view to taking over completely after the World Cup.

Apart from winning the only major final he's appeared in - kicking the winning points for Hull in the Challenge Cup final

I don't think it's Brough that chokes, it's the rest of his team-mates... Obviously going to be Wane, Powell or McDermott as his No. 2...

just hope Bennett doesn't go recruiting average NRL players who can't get a game for Australia but who qualify through a great grandparent, when we have plenty of young talent pushing through in SL at the moment.

This is great news. Bennett is a legend of the game, he has an axe to grind with the Aussies who didn't give him the kangaroo job, so he'll be well-motivated, and we'll have players falling over themselves to get into his squad because they know it'll be a first class experience, rather than an off-season distraction with an assistant coach.

Great move by the RFL, in my view. And that's not a sentence I type very often.

That was 11 years ago, he kicked a goal from in front of the posts (in a game which Kevin Sinfield won MOM by the way) and has never appeared in a major final since.

He is not and has never been the answer to Englands problems.

Very happy with Bennett's appointment, he seems genuinely passionate about the international game and has been heaping praise on the England team. Someone with his experience and ability will push the team just that little bit extra and I would like to think that we will win one of the two tournaments he will be coaching in.