{"id":546139,"date":"2026-04-23T09:14:17","date_gmt":"2026-04-23T09:14:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/546139\/"},"modified":"2026-04-23T09:14:17","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T09:14:17","slug":"andy-kelly-provides-update-on-huddersfield-giants-head-coach-search-as-john-cartwright-and-liam-finns-chances-assessed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/546139\/","title":{"rendered":"Andy Kelly provides update on Huddersfield Giants head coach search as John Cartwright and Liam Finn’s chances assessed"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"huddersfield\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Huddersfield Giants are still on the look-out for a new head coach after parting ways with Luke Robinson a month ago.<\/p>\n

Robinson was sacked from his role after 20 months following a string of bad results, however injuries played a huge role in their performances given that the former half-back only had his full strarting spine available to him on a small number of occasions.<\/p>\n

Assistant boss Liam Finn has been handed the reigns on an intetim basis as the search for a more permanent leader continues.<\/p>\n

Giants\u2019 Director of Rugby, Andy Kelly, is the man tasked with bringing in that new head coach, and he has provided an update as to where the search is currently at and what he is looking in his candidates.<\/p>\n

The former Wakefield boss was a guest on The Bench podcast this week, and was asked for the latest. Kelly revealed that the club are taking extra care in their due dilligence to avoid making the same mistakes as in previous appointments.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been a long list [of candidates], but it\u2019s\u00a0shortening down,\u201d Kelly explained. \u201cThere are people in there that were very interested.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we talked about we\u00a0were asking for expressions of interest rather than applications and I think expressions of\u00a0interest is a very two-way thing and therefore it\u2019s allowed us to also look at coaches who may\u00a0not have seen us as a viable option for them and actually approach them and go would this be of\u00a0interest to you?\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026We\u2019re currently just shortlisting and if I said I haven\u2019t spoken to a couple of people I\u2019d be lying.\u00a0We have spoken to a couple of people, not necessarily always about them coming here but\u00a0actually about the coaches that we would be interested in.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have an interest list\u00a0and in that list there\u2019s some very exciting propositions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kelly has revealed how he wants a more hands-on coach to the ones they have had in the past. The next boss needs to see the long-term strategy of Huddersfield Giants and align with that. The club cannot afford to have another failed head coach given the current position the West Yorkshire side find themselves in.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m looking for a coach who\u2019s got a vision about where he wants to take the team,\u201d the Giants Director said. \u201cSo from the next\u00a0two to four years and actually understand the club where we are now and the importance of the club, not only just in the community but to the game.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re at the very beginnings of rugby league\u00a0in Huddersfield but we can\u2019t live off that forever. We have to understand the club before we start\u00a0to understand where the club wants to go and a coach with a vision of that.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019ve got to have\u00a0all the things, the technical know-how, the tactical know-how but they\u2019ve also got to have an ability\u00a0to manage a team.\u201d<\/p>\n

John Cartwright\u2019s chances of becoming Huddersfield Giants head coach assessed<\/p>\n

One man who could be of interest is former Hull FC boss John Cartwright, who stepped down from his role as Black and Whites boss last week, though he does still remain employed to the club for the time being.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s probably not even considered what his next move is,\u201d Kelly said after being asked if the former Gold Coast boss was a viable option.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s been associated with all the jobs\u00a0at the moment, I would imagine that John Cartwright needs to finish his cup of coffee and\u00a0sit back and breathe\u2026\u00a0He\u2019s a profile coach and a coach that we\u2019ll do some due diligence on\u00a0and some background work on.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not in a position where we can just dismiss\u00a0somebody who might be available. It\u2019s trying to cover the whole sphere and not rush into the decision.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we talk about the club now,we\u2019re really in a real pinnacle moment in terms\u00a0of the club\u2019s history where we can change what going forward what we\u2019re capable of doing and\u00a0the coach appointment\u2019s a massive massive responsibility for us all.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kelly confirmed that there is no timescale on when the club will appoint Robinson\u2019s successor, leaving interim boss Finn in charge for what could another number of weeks or it could be until the end of the season.<\/p>\n

The former Irish international is another man who has put his hat in the ring for the job, but speaking last week hadn\u2019t had any formal conversations with the club\u2019s higher-ups about a potentially permanent stay at the helm.<\/p>\n

Commeting on the former half-back\u2019s chances of taking the role, Kelly said: \u201cWhat\u2019s evident\u00a0now is we\u2019ve got a very competent caretaker coach who we can trust with the ownership.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026Liam\u2019s indicated to us is he\u2019s happy to take the\u00a0caretaker position now.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf that runs to the end of the season he\u2019s happy to do that because it\u2019s\u00a0great experience for him and he wants to be considered for the job longer term.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat does\u00a0he know now? He knows that we\u2019re going to have a conversation next week so that he\u2019s fully up\u00a0to speed with where we are and what we\u2019re doing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Huddersfield Giants are still on the look-out for a new head coach after parting ways with Luke Robinson…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":539297,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[5903,101,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-546139","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-rugby","8":"tag-rugby","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/546139","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=546139"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/546139\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/539297"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=546139"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=546139"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=546139"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}