Just for completeness, Edwards signed Lee Smith from Leeds to RU. The fact that turned into a bit of a disaster for both parties may help explain why he never poached from RL again.

I think the issue non-Wigan fans - including me - have with Farrell is that he helped lure Burgess to RU whilst he was a guest of the RFL during the RL WC. That to me was putting his self-interest ahead of the game that made him.

In pure rugby terms, I wouldn't consider an RL coach who hadn't been involved in the game for a decade as a likely first team coach, let alone someone who has zero experience in coaching senior RL.

Agree with you about Lee Smith. I always felt that he was a very talented player who should have stuck with Leeds. Maybe he does too. (BTW about halfway through last season he started posting on the Wakey boards, all his posts are about what a great player Lee Smith is

)

Burgess is his own man. People are talking as if going to Union wouldn't have occurred to him unless Faz had poached him.

Rugby League is a far simpler game to coach. Faz knows more about RL than the vast majority. A spell as an assistant and he would be up to speed in no time.

club legend but isnt qualified and has absolutely no business being anywhere near an RL first team

One of the things a new coach has to do is impress the squad so that they will listen to him. Andy Farrell has won literally everything that the game can offer, so no player can disrespect him on the basis of what he achieved as a player.

He coached Saracens, England and the British Lions. Clearly many people in Union feel that he is a good coach. He must have come across a degree of scepticism because of his past.

Are we so myopic that we can't learn from someone with his experience and qualities?

People's objections seem to centre on the fact that he hasn't been in the game for the last nine years. Do we really think he doesn't keep in touch? (And as for qualifications - I understand the only current holders of the level 4 coaching badge, the top RL coaching qualification, are Denis Betts and Richard Agar, good coaches both, but I suspect neither would be welcome here)

If Waney were to go then I for one would be happy to have Faz back. No question.

Interesting split of views. I don't hold with the view that great players always make good coaches. There will be some stats somewhere about successful RL coaches and what success they had as a player. For me, good coaches need man-management skills first. I'd be very surprised if AF fails this, due to the longevity of his career: as a captain and coach. He can surround himself with assistants, in the same way MM did, and come up with team tactics and plays, but his handling of the squad, getting them on board with his philosophy and motivation, is the key.
The game hasn't changed that much to suggest he would be incapable of re-learning it.

I'm responding to Maurice and partly a general response.
I too have an intense dislike for the RFU for their historical and recent behaviour to anything RL however, generally we hold the moral high ground and we should avoid at all costs any intolerance towards the RFU in any guise be it to the game in general or individuals connected with RU. My rationale for this is that it simply is the right thing to do and hopefully it winds up the kick and clap brigade particularly the bigots and zealots from the broadsheets.
Some negative comments on Farrell are because he went to RU and therefore, he should never return. I'm the opposite in that I would welcome him back or for that matter any other player or coach who return to the fold irrespective of their initial reasons for going to RU.
With regards to Farrell if he made it known that he did want to return to RL then I'm certain that there would be no shortage of suitors irrespective of his lack of coaching experience in RL. Farrell is rugby down to his boots and is part of a small clique of people who just seem to have been born to play and coach the game. In the modern game I would put Wellens in the same category - I'm certain Wellens will eventually coach the Saints.
I personally would have Farrell back however, I just don't see how we could accommodate him with SW and I wouldn't want to lose SW therefore, if Farrell did return then it would have to be to one of our rivals which for me wouldn't be a bad thing.

Aboveus - Burgess is clearly 'his own man' but without having someone from the England RU setup in his ear, no doubt about how he could make the RUWC in 2015 his decision to switch would probably have been harder and may not have been made at all.

I appreciate that people are offering praise like this with caveats - like we haven't got a space for him etc. But where is the actual evidence for the above?

He's never coached RL in his life, and in RU - where he had the country's best players at his disposal - he failed miserably. Granted the latter wasn't all his fault, but we can't pretend that he wasn't integral to the most disastrous coaching team England RU have had in God knows how long.

I too have very fond memories of Farrell's days at Wigan. But they're long, long over. And this idea that former great players will automatically make great coaches is surely an idea we dispensed with years ago, especially as he would probably expect big bucks.

Don't want him anywhere near Wigan; or Saracens for that matter. I don't think he has anything new to offer. Great player but let him go coach elsewhere.

New Ireland RU Defence Coach.

Been away too long. He was at the top of the sport but that doesn't mean he knows the sport now. The game is quite different to that Farrell left 10 years ago. I also don't agree that League is simpler or easier to coach than Union. There are plenty of intricacies to coach in League. I think Farrell would be very much out of his depth, as would anyone who'd been out of the game for so long.

To be honest, I doubt a return to RL was even on his radar. He's a fully signed-up Union man these days, probably for the reasons you mention but also because that's where he's now made his home, spiritually as well as physically. What would RL have to offer him anyway? An asst. coaching job at one of the lesser SL clubs? Because that's the most I'd have expected he could get, and it's hardly what he's been used to. For the same reason, I doubt we'll ever see Shaun Edwards return.