Willie Poching believes it’s just as important for a coach to listen as talk.
And the former Wakefield forward who is aiming to take Trinity up the table this time around is just as happy to hear from his players as well as his right-hand men Francis Cummins and Mark Applegarth.
Former Bradford and Widnes coach Cummins was a team-mate of Poching at Leeds for four years and the pair took their first steps into coaching at the Rhinos.
New Zealander Poching also worked at Warrington, Hull KR, Salford and Huddersfield before arriving at Wakefield as assistant coach to Chris Chester ahead of the 2021 campaign.
The August departure of Chester led to his elevation, initially in an interim capacity, and a season-closing run of five wins in seven, which meant Trinity finished tenth.
After the subsequent departure of assistant coach Andy Last to Castleford, Poching, who has also been coach of Samoa and assistant coach of New Zealand, brought in Cummins as one of two right-hand men alongside Mark Applegarth, previously Wakefield’s head of youth.
Cummins coached Bradford between September 2012 and July 2014, and had another spell in Super League with Widnes, becoming interim coach in 2018, before working for rugby union clubs Yorkshire Carnegie (now Leeds Tykes) and Doncaster.
Poching is pleased to have lured him back to Rugby League, explaining: “I wanted to make sure I had good people around me.
“Having knowledgeable and supportive staff is a big thing, and so is being willing to listen to players.
“My office door is always open if anyone wants to ask a question or vent any frustration they might have.”
Poching, whose side opened their campaign with a defeat at home to Hull on Sunday and on Saturday become the first side to take on Catalans Dragons in France this year, says he learned a lot about the job and himself during last season’s run-in.
“It was a useful time and helped me forge some relationships with the existing playing group,” he explained.
“We’ve added to it and they have settled in well.”
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