ENGLAND COACH QUITS

ABOVE: Smith still wants to be involved with England

ENGLAND are set to employ a full-time head coach after Tony Smith made the decision to step down from his role.

Smith quit in the wake of England’s 46-16 defeat by Australia in last night’s Gillette Four Nations final for family reasons and to focus on his club role with Warrington.

The 42-year-old Australian made the decision not to seek a new contract, which runs out this month, before the start of the tournament but will help the Rugby Football League unearth his successor.

The search for a new coach to lead England into the 2013 World Cup began today when a four-man panel, chaired by RFL chief executive Nigel Wood, was set up to come up with a short-list of candidates for approval by the RFL board of directors.

It is likely an appointment will be made in the new year, well ahead of the mid-season international against France and in plenty of time to give the new man the chance to prepare for the 2010 Four Nations series in the southern hemisphere starting in October.

The other members of the panel are former Wigan and Great Britain centre Barrie Jon Mather, who joined the League as head of player development this summer, head of human performance Clive Brewer and head of England’s elite training squad Paddy Mortimer.

The panel will call on other experts, including Smith, who is keen to be involved in the process.

“I’ve got a great relationship with the League and they’ve said they’d like me involved in the recruitment,” he said.

“I’m sure there are plenty of options but we’ve got to see who’s available and see who’s prepared to do the job - and whether the RFL are looking for a full-time or a part-time head coach.”

Smith quit his job with Leeds to go full-time with the League in 2007 but reverted to a part-time role when he joined Warrington in March after missing the weekly hands-on coaching at club level.

RFL chairman Richard Lewis said: “We’ll almost definitely make it a full-time appointment. It’s difficult to be a club coach and an international coach.

“We’d look at the issues involved. We have to look at each individual’s circumstances.

“The intention is to go with a full-time coach this time and what their long-term plans are and how they see the role will be part of the interview.”

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