{"id":543782,"date":"2026-03-16T09:43:12","date_gmt":"2026-03-16T09:43:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/543782\/"},"modified":"2026-03-16T09:43:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-16T09:43:12","slug":"newcastle-red-bulls-announce-new-head-coach-as-dickens-checks-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/543782\/","title":{"rendered":"Newcastle Red Bulls announce new head coach as Dickens checks out"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Former <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rugbypass.com\/teams\/wales\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Wales<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rugbypass.com\/teams\/lions\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Lions<\/a> fly-half <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rugbypass.com\/players\/stephen-jones\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Stephen Jones<\/a> has been temporarily promoted to the role of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rugbypass.com\/teams\/newcastle\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Newcastle<\/a> Red <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rugbypass.com\/teams\/bulls\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Bulls<\/a> head coach, after it was announced today would be Alan Dickens\u2019 last day at the club.<\/p>\n<p>Jones, 48, has been placed in charge until the end of the season, having joined the PREM\u2019s bottom-of-the-table club as a senior assistant coach in December last year.<\/p>\n<p>After enjoying a stellar 13-year international career as a player, the Grand Slam winner turned his hand to coaching in 2013.<\/p>\n<p>He has specialised as an attack coach, working at Wasps, Scarlets, Wales under Wayne Pivac, and with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rugbypass.com\/teams\/moana-pasifika\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Moana Pasifika<\/a> in Super Rugby before his move to Tyneside.<\/p>\n<p>The search for a full-time head coach continues, but if Jones manages to emulate what Michael Carrick has achieved at Manchester United as a caretaker boss, his name could be put forward as a long-term solution.<\/p>\n<p>Former <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rugbypass.com\/teams\/ulster\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Ulster<\/a> boss Dan McFarland, currently working as forwards coach at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rugbypass.com\/teams\/japan\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Japan<\/a> Rugby League One outfit Kobelco Kobe Steelers, is reportedly in the frame for the job.<\/p>\n<p>Speculation linking <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rugbypass.com\/teams\/scotland\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Scotland<\/a> boss <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rugbypass.com\/players\/gregor-townsend\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Gregor Townsend<\/a> as the man to lead the Red Bulls forward, either as Director of Rugby or head coach, after the 2027 World Cup, has also been rife.<\/p>\n<p>A statement issued by Newcastle confirmed the current situation: \u201cNewcastle Red Bulls can confirm that Alan Dickens will leave his role as head coach on Monday 16 March 2026, following a mutual agreement reached at Alan\u2019s request to allow him to pursue other opportunities.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAlan joined the club in June 2024 and has contributed during a significant period in the club\u2019s development. We thank him for his contribution, and for his work with players and staff during his time here.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEveryone at Newcastle Red Bulls wishes Alan and his family every success for the future, and the next stage of his career.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cStephen Jones will assume the role of head coach until the end of the current season.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former Wales and Lions fly-half Stephen Jones has been temporarily promoted to the role of Newcastle Red Bulls&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":543783,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,760,85],"class_list":["post-543782","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-rugby","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/543782","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=543782"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/543782\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/543783"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=543782"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=543782"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=543782"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}