OLDHAM have promoted Callum Irving from pathways technical advisor to assistant coach – but have yet to confirm who will take the top job, insisting they will be patient in their search.
Following Sean Long’s departure after two years in charge, his right-hand man Joe Wardle has also left, with Irving quickly installed.
Long exited by mutual consent as managing director and former Oldham player and coach Mike Ford took up a more hands-on role as director of rugby.
Wardle, the former Bradford, Huddersfield, Newcastle Knights, Castleford and Leigh centre/secondrow who ended his playing days by spending the 2024 season at Oldham, then departed as well.
Ex-London Skolars coach Irving, who played as a back for Carlisle and York as well as having a spell in France, has helped progress a development system which the ambitious Roughyeds regard are key to their future plans.
He has also worked in the old London Broncos Academy and has experience in a variety of sports, including football, with a current post in the FIFA coaching education programme.
That appeals to Ford, who explained: “It soon became apparent what a smart coaching brain he has got.
“He is a rugby man, that is his lifeblood and what he wants to do is coach. We are very lucky to have someone in our organisation who potentially has a different perspective of how the game should be played.
Irving said: “We always talked about joining the pathway up with the first team and now there is a really good opportunity to make sure there is a flow right the way from the under twelves to the firsts.
“One of the things Mike and the board have talked about is having Oldham lads playing for the first team. This role and joining those two elements of the club up is a logical step.”
On Long’s successor, Ford said: “We continue to search for a successor to Sean. I am meeting people and we will find the right man, however long that takes.”