Warrington boss Tony Smith has denied rumours he is set to join NRL outfit St George-Illawarra Dragons in a coaching role, but admitted he is still in talks over his future with Wolves owner Simon Moran.
The Australian played for both St George and the Illawarra Steelers before their merger and older brother Brian spent four years in charge there from 1991. Reports suggest the NRL club, where both Gareth Widdop and Benji Marshall ply their trade, got in touch with Smith in January, months before coach Steve Price was sacked.
“I’ll have a little bit of news in the next week or so but that’s unlikely to be it,” Smith said.
“I’m working through some stuff with Simon at the moment. This is the longest I’ve been at any club. I would have said in the past there was a shelf life for me.
“I needed to move on because I was somebody who wanted the next challenge but, as you get older and more mature, you start to look at different things.
“Take the example of [Australian coaches] Wayne Bennett and Tim Sheens and the periods of time they stayed at particular places, I can understand some of that now, whereas in the earlier part of my career I was looking for the next new thing.
“I’ve enjoyed working so far at Warrington and a huge part of that is who I work for. I’ve got a huge respect for Simon and I’m enjoying it what we’re doing there and what we’re building.
“There are new challenges that are arising each and every year, it feels like we’re re-inventing ourselves all the time so there are new challenges for me. At the moment I’m not going anywhere. [I am] Enjoying what I’m doing.”
