John Kear relishing challenge of returning to Wakefield
Tuesday 13 September 2016 13:36, UK
John Kear will be doing his best to avoid the Super 8s Qualifiers in 2017 after spending this year striving to take part in them.
Kear's remarkable achievement in masterminding a top-four finish for unheralded Batley was recognised on Monday night when he was named Kingstone Press Championship coach of the year.
Kear's Bulldogs were the only team to beat eventual champions Leigh, who secured automatic promotion to Super League with their 48-40 win over Huddersfield at the weekend, and will be seeking to topple them again in Saturday's Super 8s Qualifiers clash at Leigh Sports Village.
The prestigious award provides a fitting finale for the 61-year-old Kear as he ends his five-year stint with Batley at the end of the season to take up the role of head of rugby at his old club Wakefield, who despite their improved fortunes this season will be among the favourites to finish in the bottom four in 2017.
Kear, the current Wales boss who masterminded shock Challenge Cup victories for Sheffield Eagles and Hull FC during his epic coaching career, says he will embrace the challenge of the Super 8s when he returns to Belle Vue.
"I think Leigh have justified the system, no doubt about that," said Kear. "What we've got to do generally is make sure the other clubs are better at competing once they get in the middle 8s.
"Ourselves and Featherstone have had our backsides kicked. At first we were like rabbits in the headlights but we've learned some real serious lessons this year from what's happened to us and I think we've grown into the middle 8s."
Challenges
With one Super League club guaranteed to be relegated, Kear believes promotion could be back on the agenda in 2017 when he will be fighting to keep Wakefield in the top flight.
"Whoever goes down are going to be strong," he said. "Bradford look as if they're recruiting strong, Batley and Featherstone will be better for this year's experience and London have matured greatly this year.
"You want to avoid that bottom four because there's going to be some great challenges there, as Hull Kingston Rovers, Huddersfield and Salford have found this year."
Wakefield's survival this year was due in part to the Rugby Football League's decision to deduct Salford six points for breaking the salary cap but Kear has no sympathy for the Red Devils.
"If you don't break the rules, you don't get the points deducted," he said. "I was at Wakefield when we had points taken off us and we used it to inspire us to make sure we didn't finish bottom.
"So no I don't think Wakefield have been lucky. They adhered to the rules and accumulated enough points.
"Obviously next year we have to make sure we're better than we've been this year, first of all by accruing more than 20 points in the competition and secondly making sure that when it goes to the Super 8s, they really are competitive."
