PAUL COOKE believes Steve McNamara will be a perfect fit as Hull FC coach, insisting that the ex-England chief’s career has been underestimated.
McNamara, currently working at leaders Warrington Wolves, has been installed as hot favourite to take charge after the club revealed last week that John Cartwright would not continue in 2027.
Hull-born McNamara, 54, has a long and varied coaching CV which includes great success in France with Catalans Dragons plus working as an assistant in the NRL with Sydney Roosters and New Zealand Warriors.
Former England international Cooke, who starred for both Hull clubs and was most recently head coach at Featherstone Rovers, said: “I’ve never worked with Steve.
“But I know a lot about him, given that he is from Hull like me.
“I think people underestimate the value of Steve McNamara and what he’s done in the game.
“When you look at where he’s been and the coaches he’s worked under, the successful teams he was a part of and his time as the England coach – I don’t think we’ve been any closer to winning anything under any of the coaches than when Steve had them – he does have plenty of credit in the bank.
“Look at the way he went to Catalans and turned their culture around.
“There’s the old saying about ‘when in Rome’. Well, when in France you speak French and he tried to get everybody speaking French.
“You’ve now got Micky McIlorum and Sam Tomkins speaking it fluently.
“His value to that group was huge. And you can see his value to the Warrington group this year as well with where they’re at (top of Super League).
“It would be a wonderful appointment.”
However, Cooke also had words of support for Cartwright, the former Kangaroos second-rower who will see his three-year contract ended early, just two seasons in.
He said: “What you have to recognise is that John’s done a really good job stabilising a club that was, with all due respect, all over the place when he came in.
“It was being beaten heavily most weeks. He put that in the past.
“He made sure that the team was difficult to beat and he took them from being hammered every week to a group that was competitive. There’ll be plenty of people who will appreciate what he’s done.”