Wakefield Trinity have revealed this morning that the club has appointed Willie Poching as its new head coach.
The news was announced by Trinity chief executive Michael Carter and came after Trinity had completed their 2021 fixtures with five wins from their last seven games under Poching’s direction while he was filling the post on an interim basis.
“After a very thorough process over the last six or seven weeks, Wakefield Trinity are delighted to announce that Willie Poching will be the new head coach of Wakefield Trinity,” said Carter in a media briefing.
“Willie has shown how thorough he is as a head coach, how he can get his message over to the playing group and that has shown itself over the last seven weeks.
“So I’m delighted that Willie has agreed to become the new head coach of Wakefield Trinity.
“Willie said at the outset that he was living a live audition when he first got the role. He has responded to that in a fantastic and magnificent manner.”
Poching has served a long apprenticeship in assistant coaching roles, but he is delighted at last to be able to take charge of a team himself.
“I’m extremely proud to be able to coach the team in the city I’ve lived in for a long time, one of the teams that I played for that has such an illustrious history, a fantastic board and support crew,” said Poching.
“There’s been a lot of success at this club but not for a little while. I’m pleased and deeply honoured to have the opportunity to get some of that back.”
Poching had always hoped to get the job permanently after the departure of previous coach Chris Chester, but he always remained cautious about his prospects.
“I never got overly confident,” he said.
“My focus solely had to be those games we had and getting the team ready.
“I had my fingers crossed that with solid performances I’d give myself a chance.
“It’s been a long road but I’ve learned a lot along the way.”
