John Cartwright under consideration for vacant Huddersfield Giants head coach role
Huddersfield Giants director of rugby Andy Kelly reveals John Cartwright is on shortlist for vacant head coach role after leaving Hull FC; listen to rugby league news, analysis and interviews on The Bench podcast with Jenna and Jon
Monday 20 April 2026 17:03, UK
John Cartwright is among a list of candidates under consideration by the Huddersfield Giants as they seek a long-term successor to Luke Robinson.
Robinson was relieved of his duties at the Accu Stadium at the end of March following a run of five successive Super League defeats.
Liam Finn has since taken interim charge of the Giants and has put his name forward for the role on a permanent basis.
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Huddersfield director of rugby Andy Kelly revealed that the shortlist also features Cartwright, who stepped down from his role as Hull FC head coach after the club announced he would be moving on at the end of the season.
Speaking on The Bench podcast with Jenna and Jon, Kelly said: "[A list of coaches] is definitely being looked at - probably obsessively looked at.
"It's been a long list, and it's shortening down. There are people we are very interested in.
"I have an influence on what's going on. I'm doing a lot of the background work, a lot of the research, looking at where I think a coach will fit with what we're trying to bring about, and then putting that in front of the board of directors."
On Cartwright, Kelly added: "He's probably not even considered what his next job is. He's been associated with all the jobs at the moment. I would imagine John Cartwright, at this minute, needs to finish his cup of coffee and sit back and breathe.
"He's a profile coach, a coach we will do some due diligence and background work on. We're not in a position where we can just dismiss someone who might be available, just as we can't dismiss someone who is effectively available.
"It's about covering the whole sphere and not rushing into the decision."
Huddersfield sit third from bottom in Super League after two wins from their eight games this season, including a chastening 56-22 home defeat by Leeds Rhinos on Friday.
Kelly shed light on the recruitment process and the importance of making the right appointment with the club at such an important juncture.
"I'm looking for a coach who has a vision for where he wants to take the team in the next two to four years, and who understands where we are now and the importance of the club in the community and to the game itself," he added.
"We were at the very beginnings of rugby league in Huddersfield, but we can't live off that forever. We have to understand the club before we start to understand where the club wants to go.
"A coach has got to have technical and tactical know‑how, but they also have to have the ability to manage a team.
"This is a defining moment in the club's history - one where we can change what we're capable of doing going forward. The coach appointment is a massive responsibility for us all."
"We asked for expressions of interest rather than applications. Expressions of interest are a two-way thing - they've allowed us to look at and approach coaches who may not have seen us as a viable option and ask them if we'd be of interest to them."
Kelly explained how aligning the club's player recruitment strategy with potential coaching appointments has lengthened the process of appointing a permanent head coach.
"That has stalled our process a little bit because we want to make sure that whoever the coach is, they are comfortable with the players we are looking to recruit," he said.
"The coach will have a say in recruitment. The announcement will come at the point when we know who that person is.
"We could approach somebody who actually turns us down, so it would be wrong of me to put names in place."
2026 Super League - key dates and what to look out for
- Super League in Paris: Sat Jun 6: Catalans Dragons v Wigan Warriors (Paris), 6.30pm UK (Sky Sports)
- Magic Weekend: July 4-July 5
- Rivals Round reversed: July 23-July 26
- Elimination Play-offs: September 19-September 20
- Play-off semi-finals: September 26-September 27
- Grand Final: October 3, Old Trafford.
Sky Sports will again show every game of the Super League live this season - including two matches in each round exclusively live, with the remaining five matches each week shown on Sky Sports+
