Craig Sandercock was head-hunted by Hull KR to succeed Justin Morgan, the new Rovers head coach has revealed.
Aussie was approached 'out of the blue'
Craig Sandercock was head-hunted by Hull KR to succeed Justin Morgan, the new Rovers head coach has revealed.
The 42-year-old Newcastle Knights assistant coach, who has taken up a two-year contract with an option for a third season in Super League, was unveiled at a press conference at Craven Park on Tuesday.
"I didn't go chasing the job," he said. "I was quite happy in the NRL and had just signed a new two-year deal to stay at the Knights.
"I got an email from (Rovers chairman) Neil (Hudgell) out of the blue and it just went from there.
"It was a tough decision. I feel I'm a head coach and Hull Kingston Rovers is providing me with that opportunity.
"There are 16 NRL sides and 14 Super League sides so that only makes 30 head coach positions in the world. That's why I'm here.
"It's a massive opportunity. They really want to take the club to the next level."
Sandercock, a former teacher who had a brief stint as a player in the reserves at London Broncos in 1997, served a six-year coaching apprenticeship at Manly Sea Eagles before spending the last two years under Rick Stone at Newcastle.
He is the third Australian assistant to be given a head coaching role in England in the last six months following the appointments of Matt Parish (Salford) and Peter Gentle (Hull FC) as Super League clubs look to emulate the success of Michael Maguire, who was number two at Melbourne before taking over at Wigan two years ago.
The appointments have brought criticism over clubs' apparent reluctance to give opportunities to home-grown coaches but Sandercock is hoping to groom a British successor.
Pressure
"I imagine there's pressure on every coach in Super League," he said. "I'm going to bring in my own philosophies and beliefs. They might be totally different to Michael Maguire's, only time will tell.
"I was not aware of any murmurings. I did say to the chairman that I'm here to educate the coaches as well as the players and perhaps when my time is over, the club hopefully could be in a position to hire an English coach."
Sandercock, who said he is close to finalising his backroom staff, will fly back to Australia before returning for the start of pre-season training on November 7.
Sandercock does not anticipate many new arrivals. "I had 24 hours on a plane to look at the squad so I'm pretty familiar with what I've got at my disposal," he said.
"The guys who have left will take a lot of replacing. It's something we're working through now.
"There are quite a few players in the NRL I'd love to bring over and in fact I've fielded quite a few phone calls from quality players but it's a matter of working through the salary cap and other issues and seeing exactly what is available.
"I'd suggest we're probably one player short in a specific position that I need to look at to strengthen the squad."
