Steve McNamara, the former England head coach, has joined the New Zealand Warriors to become their assistant coach.
McNamara, 45, joins the Warriors following the arrival of former New Zealand head coach Stephen Kearney, who McNamara triumphed over in the 2015 Test series in his final act as England head coach before being replaced by Wayne Bennett.
“Steve has tremendous coaching credentials through his time as England’s head coach as well as his experience with Bradford in the Super League and now the Roosters in the NRL,” said Warriors managing director Jim Doyle.
“In joining Stephen, Cappy (Andrew McFadden) and Stacey (Jones), Steve completes our NRL coaching staff for next season.
“We’re excited about being able to bring this group of coaches together as we strive to lift our standards. Certainly, our senior players and the whole NRL squad will now have better coaching support than they’ve ever had before.”
McNamara added: “I’ve learnt so much about the NRL in my three seasons with the Roosters, adding to past experience with England and Bradford,” he said.
“Now I’m really excited about this next step in my coaching career, coming to Auckland and working with Stephen and a great coaching group.
“I am in no doubt that the Vodafone Warriors have the players to make a mark in the NRL and I want to do all I can to help make that happen.
“I have the greatest admiration for Stephen from the days when we were opposing coaches of our national teams. He has done wonderfully well with the Kiwis and I’m sure he’s going to do a terrific job with the Vodafone Warriors.”
“While Steve and I were adversaries in our roles with our national teams we formed a great relationship,” Kearney commented.
“He brings qualities that will give us a really strong and experienced coaching group as we look ahead to take the Vodafone Warriors to the level we collectively expect of this club.
“There’s much work to do but with Steve, Cappy and Stacey we have a coaching team that can really lift standards and bring about the improvements we must make to be consistently competitive in the NRL.”
