Neil Kelly has been named as Glenn Morrison’s successor as head coach of Championship strugglers Dewsbury Rams.
The Rams had been hunting Morrison’s replacement for over a fortnight, with interim coaches Karl Pryce and Jonathan Schofield steering the ship throughout chairman Mark Sawyer’s search for a new coach.
And the Rams have settled on Kelly, who returns to Dewsbury as coach for a second spell after overseeing one of the more successful periods in the club’s history around the turn of the century.
“There was an excellent calibre of application, and a good set of interviews, so for Neil to get the position shows how highly-regarded he is,” Sawyer said.
“The situation we are in at this present moment is extremely similar to when Neil took over as coach for his first spell, and he achieved a lot in difficult circumstances.
“He has a lot of experience at our level and since then has been involved at an extremely high level of coaching in both codes of rugby.
“His enthusiasm for Dewsbury Rugby League Football Club, and for taking on this job, has been enormous, and he is clearly somebody of whom the fans already have fond memories.
“Neil understands the nature of the challenge ahead, including the difficulties we are currently facing with injuries, and he’s willing to risk his reputation on succeeding.”
Kelly has also coached at Leigh and Widnes throughout his career – and TotalRL understands he has beaten off competition from candidates such as former Bradford coach Francis Cummins for the role.
Cummins reportedly had an interview over the weekend for the role, but Sawyer and the Rams board decided Kelly should return to the Tetley’s Stadium tasked with trying to haul Dewsbury away from the Championship relegation zone.
They are the only side in the division without a win to their name, and are only being kept off the foot of the table by Bradford’s 12-point deduction imposed on them by the Rugby Football League.