London Broncos interim coach Mike Eccles is aiming to lay the foundations for a climb away from the Championship danger zone.
Following the departure of Jermaine Coleman and his assistant and younger brother Jy-mel, the club’s long-serving head of performance is preparing the team for a big, long Bank Holiday weekend double.
The Broncos, who are second-bottom with two to go down, visit basement side Workington on Thursday. The game is at 12.30pm and live on Premier Sports.
Then, on Sunday, comes a tough trip to play-off chasers York.
Former London Skolars coach Coleman parted company with the Broncos after his charges claimed only three points from the first twelve league games.
He was appointed in September as the club who were relegated from Super League in 2019 switched from full to part-time amid a move to AFC Wimbledon’s Cherry Red Records Stadium from their previous base at Ealing Trailfinders.
Following the departure of long-serving Danny Ward, the Broncos spent the final eight games of last season under interim coach Tom Tsang, missing out on the play-offs by one place.
Coleman, who undertook a major squad rebuild, is the third Championship coach to leave a club this year after John Kear at Bradford and Simon Finnigan at Widnes.
Those cubs are currently under the interim coaching of Mark Dunning and Ryan O’Brien respectively.
Eccles, a former Wigan Athletic Academy footballer, joined the Broncos in 2012 after a spell as head of strength and conditioning at Salford.
“As the search goes on for a permanent replacement, my job is to get the squad together and stabilise things,” he said.
“It’s about looking forward. We have an exciting period coming up, and the priority is the game at Workington.
“It’s a big match, it’s on television, and I have to make sure we are ready.
“I have total confidence in the players. We have shown in patches this year that we can be a really good team.”
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