New Warrington Wolves assistant Andrew Henderson has lifted the lid on why he ended his three-year stint as head coach of London – saying the time was right to leave the Broncos for a new challenge.
Henderson will be the number two to new Wolves coach Steve Price in 2018, after agreeing to move to the club and leave London, where he has performed an impressive turnaround of the club’s fortunes.
And, speaking exclusively to TotalRL, Henderson said he was grateful for the Broncos’ support in allowing him to pursue a new opportunity – saying he’d taken the club as far as he could.
“There were a couple of reasons,” he said when asked why he left.
“I don’t think I did finish the journey at London but I felt it was the right decision to move on. I did three years there and took it as far as I could potentially take it. I’m proud of what was achieved down there; I had some really good staff and we got it to a stage where there was stability and credibility.
“However, I don’t feel like we had the capacity to kick on. Also, we don’t know the structure in 12 months’ time and that was on my mind, too. This came out of the blue, it really did – it didn’t happen during the year. To even be considered by a club like Warrington was pretty awesome; I spoke to Steve and he’d done my homework on me and it all happened very quickly.
“We all agreed it was the right move for me to move on and I’m thankful they supported me in this move. They could have stood in my way but they didn’t, and they could see it was a good opportunity for me in my personal progression.”
Henderson also offered his thoughts on his successor, his former assistant, Danny Ward. The ex-Leeds forward is the new London coach, with former Bradford and Great Britain forward Jamie Langley his assistant.
And Henderson believes that the continuity which Ward’s appointment provides will help the club be better prepared for 2018 without him.
He said: “The good thing is that after the Super 8s, myself, Danny and Jamie put the whole pre-season plan in place. We’d got that all sorted and everything was booked in, so essentially, all Wardy has to do is run what we had to do in place and put his own little spin on it.
“I’m sure he’ll tweak a couple of things to make it his own but from a transitional point of view, it’s a smooth one for London.
“Danny has got to make the transition into becoming a head coach now and that’ll be the challenge for him, to learn to manage everything, but the great thing is that he’s been in the office with me and I think he’ll have learned a lot from his time under me.
“I’ve every confidence he can continue the good work there. I’m sure they wouldn’t have been short of applicants but I guess in one respect, this makes sense. It’s a great opportunity for him and I really wish him all the best.”
