Paul Wellens said he was keen to bring head-coaching experience and a fresh perspective into St Helens with his choice of assistant coach.
Former Catalans Dragons and current France boss Laurent Frayssinous will join the Super League champions once the World Cup draws to a close.
“When I thought about bringing in an assistant coach, there were a few things that I wanted,” explained Wellens.
“One was that I wanted someone who has had head-coaching experience. I haven’t and obviously Laurent has had experience at Catalans with varying degrees of success.
“He is someone who is really passionate about rugby. When I sat down with him, the first thing that struck me about him was his passion for Rugby League, how knowledgeable he was about the game, and I found that very impressive.
“The third thing about him was, I was conscious that I had been promoted from within. We have got a lot of staff within the club, head of performance Matt Daniels, head of medical Nathan Mill, I could go to (assistant coach) Ian Talbot.
“We have staff who have been here a long time, so I think with the playing group who have been together a long time as well, a fresh pair of eyes, a fresh voice, someone to look at things slightly differently might just be what the group needs. Laurent will bring all those things in.
“One of his tasks will be to look where he can develop our attack. I think we have got improvements there. We have been hampered this year with the loss of Lewis Dodd which certainly hurt the way we attack. We have got improvements.
“I have mentioned a lot how we are a team that have a lot of strong ball carriers. It works to our advantage a lot of the time, but sometimes you do need a Plan B.
“Laurent will come in with some fresh ideas which will help evolve our performances in that respect.”
Wellens completed his first piece of business as head coach last week by securing England international backrower Joe Batchelor on a new three-year contract.
Meanwhile the club have confirmed the release of Aaron Smith, Josh Simm, Tom Nisbet and Rio Osaywanbo Corkhill.
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