I hope that you are right and that was my point to Thelonius really...eloquently put Sir

Whether TS stays or goes is going to depend on his options elsewhere. Yes it might be time where he fancies a new challenge but he's also onto a good thing in Warrington with a good set up and a supportive board and structures below that he set up himself. There aren't a lot of places he can go that aren't a backwards move.

If an NRL club comes in for him then fair enough good luck to him, but there are no guarantees. He's been out of Australia for a long time and the call has never come so far for whatever reason. It's not like TS has only just started being a successful coach, he had a Grand Final and World Club Challenge title by early 2005. The relative lack of success of coaches like Matthew Elliott, Ian Millward and Shaun McRae in Australia after winning trophies in England probably count against Aussie coaches in Super League that have spent a long time here. Maguire went back quite quickly, but then he was already well known and highly rated as an assistant in the NRL and he didn't get forgotten about. Nathan Brown has kept his media profile up in Australia too. Tony Smith got UK citizenship and wasn't hankering for a move back home.

If no NRL club comes in for him then do we really expect him to leave? Where would he go to in the UK that is not a sideways or backwards move?

It's not cut and dried that he will move on. When people say 'he does a few years and moves on', there were obvious reasons for moving on before. Huddersfield to Leeds was moving to a big club with a shot of trophies. Leeds to GB was getting an international job. There isn't an obvious upwards move now unless its to the NRL.

Another interesting phenomenon with Smith is his previous SL clubs have done better after he left than when he was there!

I can't see Smith sprinting back to his homeland, tbh.
Since the inception of SL, the coaches who have been successful, and have gone to the NRL, have only gone as assistants. I don't see Smith wanting to be anyone's assistant.

Matty Elliott went back as an assistant
Likewise, Anderson and Millward. They all won plenty of pots.Yes, Maguire's gone back.
McRea had his success in the mid 90's, but went to a team who were a bit of a laughing stock, a decade later.

The NRL, rightly or wrongly, sneer at our game, and regard it as beneath them. I think Smith is a bit to "savvy" to go as an assistant, and the NRL clubs wouldn't want to give a head coach's job, to someone that's come from a "Pommie" team.

IF, and it's a big if, Smith goes, I think it'll be to Wigan. After all, they've never been backwards, when it comes to getting what they want (Andy Gregory, Andy Platt, Stuart Fielden...and breaking the salary cap, in the process)

If I was the RFL then I'd be offering TS a lot of money. He is the best coach in the country at the minute, and his knowledge and experience would be vital.

IIRC he has been involved with holding seminars for coaches, so he may be interested in some sort of technical role, but it's whether he would want to stay in coaching. If he does then I think Hull FC would be a likely option.

I feel certain that Tony Smith will stay until at least the end of 2014, and when he moves on, Brett Hodgson may well take over the reins.

The next generation of good Aussie coaches have to start coming through from somewhere and Hodgson's two-year deal will expire at the end in 2014. I think the next two years will be as much about grooming him for coaching as it will be him chiming into the line, getting his head ripped off and bisecting the sticks with effortless touchline conversions. He leads by example on the field, is a "talker" under the sticks and has the intelligence, experience and knowledge of the game necessary to make the step up to a successful coaching career.

In my eyes, it's not implausible that something like that could happen.

Time will tell.

Interesting, exactly the same thought occurred to me when I saw Hodgson's 2 year deal, they cleary want to keep him at the club and I can certainly see him as a coach.

Signed for TWO more years according to the Warrington Guardian tomorrow

Yep, official twitter saying big signing news coming up.

Official on twitter. Signed until 2015! Great news

Fantastic

There's always next year, and the year after, and the year after....

Brilliant news.

I want a SL trophy and a WCC trophy out of him (and maybe another CC, I dont know, I'll see how I feel) and then (and only then) may he leave. And when that time comes, he will only be allowed to leave if he goes to the NRL.

Good post, this.

Looks like Tony is already planning the next wave of first teamers according to his interview in Sporting Life with the likes of Mendieka, Riley and Saltonstall name checked. www.sportinglife.com/rugby-leagu ... olves-deal

Looks like Tony is already planning the next wave of first teamers according to his interview in Sporting Life with the likes of Mendieka, Riley and Saltonstall name checked. www.sportinglife.com/rugby-leagu ... olves-deal