Kevin Walters will land in St Helens over the next few weeks, coming over to his new club on a scouting mission ahead of joining the club full-time in pre-season.
Walters remains the head coach of the Australian national team until the end of the Rugby League World Cup, and will see out his duties there before arriving in the UK to take up a three-year contract with the Red Vee.
However, with the Kangaroos expected to reach the final, that doesn’t take place until mid-November, when pre-season for Saints will have already begun.
As a result, the new boss is getting his preparation in early, and will come over to discuss with the coaching staff what he wants to occur in the off-season before he arrives.
His upcoming trip was confirmed by chairman Eamon McManus, who spoke to BBC Radio Merseyside about the appointment.
He said: “Personally, very excited – as is the club, and I think as is the game of Rugby League and Super League in the UK.
“Kevin Walters is currently the head coach of the greatest rugby nation of either code in the world, the Kangaroos, so for him to leave that position and want to come to St Helens as our head coach is a major statement for us and by him, so more than happy.”
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Asked if it was difficult to attract him to make the move north, McManus explained: “Not at all, and that’s why we’ve appointed him.
“He was highly motivated to do so. The respect was mutual, the conversation was easy, and the decision ultimately was very easy.
“The combination of his experience over the years, former head coach at Brisbane Broncos, probably the greatest brand name in rugby league in the world, head coach of Queensland in the State of Origin, which is the greatest rugby competition in the world and now the head coach of the Kangaroos is pretty compelling for us and for him to want to come to us was really the clinching deal.
“We’d obviously researched the market thoroughly. We’d interviewed quite a number of coaches, but as I say, when you’ve got a combination of that background and experience plus more importantly, the motivation and real willingness to come over here, needed no persuasion whatsoever, quite the opposite, was more than compelling.”
St Helens chairman reveals imminent Kevin Walters trip ahead of pre-season arrival
Revealing Walters’ plans for coming over soon, McManus said: “Kevin is going to be more than occupied with Australia in the World Cup, but he’s likely to fly out over the next week or two to meet with staff, to meet with the key people in the club, to plan the pre-season before moving off back to Australia for the World Cup.
“He in his own mind knows that the start of the pre-season for this club is absolutely critical and can’t wait in isolation until he’s finished the World Cup.
“That’s a good compromise. I would be concerned if he had no connection with the club on the ground until a couple of weeks into the pre-season. Day one is important, and he’s going to be involved in it’s planning.”
Walters has experience in Super League having coached Catalans Dragons in 2009 and 2010. McManus stressed how important it was to bring some in that had prior knowledge of the competition.
He said: “We’ve got to be honest, the last year or two has been choppy waters, shall we say. There were, as I say, a number of very good up-and-coming coaches that applied for the job.
“What we need now is someone who can firstly calm the waters and then really sail the ship through to success, and we feel that Kevin is that.
“He’s very much the right person at the right time for the club and as I say, very, very happy. Very happy indeed.”
Further explaining what he hopes Walters can achieve, McManus said: “We need stability followed by success, and as I say, that’s why a person of his calibre and experience is, in our opinion, essential at this point in time. That’s why we went for someone with that sort of background.
“Coaching is horses for courses in many regards. Sometimes when you’re at the top of the tree, you can take a little bit of a gamble and go for someone who you think has a great future ahead of him.
“In this instance, we needed someone who’s tried, tested, experienced, mature, stable, can bring stability back to the club overnight, but more importantly, coach us to success in the future and we feel that he is it.”
