Monaghan atm is not the right man for us, regardless of his playing career. I wouldn't say no to him signing on as a player though, and I'd stick him in the halves. But for coach, it'd be similar to appointing Webster, with similar disastrous consequences. FWIW McCormack is a decent shout as he is experienced but does he have a strong enough character to deal with this bunch of misfits?

Think Monaghan and Webster are like chalk and cheese, so the comparison can't be made.

Would love to see Andy & Neil kelly down at Belle Vue. Andy always had the club at heart as a player and a coach.

A quick search online will reveal:-

- he got Cas promoted back to SL - apparently he left because Cas wanted a more "well known" coach, maybe to attract players

- he turned Gateshead around from being bottom of their league to champions in one season

- against "expert" predictions he helped York win promotion - he left the club under constructive dismissal and the owner's motives have since been questioned by the fans and media. Reading into it I see that Woods was travelling back and forth from Gateshead to York whilst also contending with a family illness. The Chairman of York, it seems, wasn't willing to cover the ongoing travel costs of this arrangement. I must admit though if a family illness is cited then it is little wonder that Woods wanted to stay near his family.

This is all information I've gleened from the public domain of our glorious internet. Sounds like Woods gets results although why he hasn't got a SL appointment yet is something I do query.

Dave Woods is well respected by Tigers fans. He did a brilliant job with us and is a top bloke. He knows how to get the best out of players performance wise - a bit like JK.

I remember him at Cas and the way he conducted himself. He turned Gateshead round not only on the field but the club. I don't see him being a yes man and his knowledge could be a great help to M C. The more I think about it the more I like the idea. He's a shadow of the man he used to be and may also be able to help on the dietary front. Media and marketing would be a fantastic addition. Just hope we get the next appointment right . Good luck to him and MC a very important part of the clubs history.

I'm not surprised about some comments about Monaghan to be honest but I don't think anyone can categorically state that he would be the same as Webster. He has played at a higher level than Webster and has won everything going as well as playing state of origin.

It is that winner mentality and his leadership ability that Trinity need. He is coaching at a very good SL club which thrashed Wigan last week. I suppose it comes down to what he says in interview with MC (if they are taking place and he has applied) and also whether he would be able to pull the boots on as player coach?

Since the survey only allows one vote I thought I'd share my thoughts. Based on rumours as to who may/may not have applied I list below who are my preferred options for the next coach (in order of priority - so no 1 is my first choice for coach):-

1. John Kear
2. Dave Woods
3. Jason Demetriou
4. Glenn Morrison
5. Brian Noble

All other proposed candidates I'm not really interested in and find reason why I don't want them as coach.

Any of the above 5 I'd be happy with. However I think Kear (and I'm warming to Woods) are the stand out choices for me to give us the best chance of staying up with our current squad.

Like you I wouldn't mind him coming as a player but not as a coach, he's less experience than what Webster has and I'm not so sure that Laurence F at Catalan's has enough experience himself for him to learn from, that said coaching jobs including those of assistant coach don't come available that often, imo he'd be better of there for now getting more needed experience at the same time working with better players not to mention a better life style, and would be in the box seat if the club fell out with LF.

Monaghan is a gamble, he's never coached before and being a great player guarantees nothing. Look at Briers, same type of quality but not deemed ready to even be assistant at Warrington, Agar seen as the better option. He might turn out to be a superb Coach though but we can't afford to be his coaching experiment

Woods is a great self publicist, but has never Coached at anywhere near SL level so despite success at a number of lower league clubs he's a huge gamble as well.

Kear remains a strong option but only in the short term, he's not the right man to set the club up for future success.

Morrison looks almost ready but from what I hear it's Glenn himself who has reservations about whether this is the time and whether Wakefield is the Club especially given their current state. Then there's the refusal to talk to him which seems to end that one once and for all.

Neil Kelly perceived to have been out of the game for a while so might be out of touch. Though he's been operating at the top level of Rugby Union, Coaching international Coaches and will have some fresh ideas to bring. Good track record, 2006 SL Coach of the year, GF wins, promotions, international Coach.

Noble, like Kear but not as good at handling our kind of issues IMO

JD is a funny one, he has done great at Keighley and Northern Pride but they too are at a lower evel than SL. He's enjoyed the presence of some very good players in his teams which has given him an advantage. He's progressing through an NRL pathway and is very well thought of so will he abandon that and uproot his family again?

The Avenger I'm reading your article and you seem to have reservations for a lot of the key candidates. Is there anyone who'd be your out and out favourite, with least reservations about?

Quote: The Avenger "JD is a funny one, he has done great at Keighley and Northern Pride but they too are at a lower level than SL. '" I bet Northern Pride would beat Trinity... No comment on Steve McCormack...... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_McCormack

Quote: The Avenger "JD is a funny one, he has done great at Keighley and Northern Pride but they too are at a lower level than SL. '" I bet Northern Pride would beat Trinity... No comment on Steve McCormack...... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_McCormack

I would disagree with that. I think Kear is very much a long term building coach. We just need to give him some infrastructure to build on rather than no money and first team results are the only judgement.

Of the candidates I know, and there's a few I don't know the names of as we are apparently into double figures in terms of applications, they each have a level of uncertainty around them but they all have some great attributes as well. The dream team might be Kear with Morrison as his assistant with the long term plan being Morrison taking over in 6 to 12 months.

That's probably off the table due to Mark Sawyers refusal to speak to his Coach and what seems to be Glenn's reservations about whether this is right for him, there's also the matter of both Batley and Dewsbury being compensated when we have no money.

I like the idea of Kelly as he's a Wakefield man though I have mixed feelings about his time away from the game. On the one hand I wonder how much has changed during his time Coaching Union but then again if we appointed Sean Edwards no one would worry about him never having coached League and being out of the game for over a decade.

Based on his previous record at Wakefield, he totally ignored the Youth structure, in fact, he raided it of every resource other than players and left it years behind that of other SL clubs.
Not much long term succession planning going on there!