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Warrington Wolves will see assistant coach Steve McNamara exit the club at the end of the season, as he joins Hull FC to become their permananent head coach.<\/p>\n
In quite a dramatic timeline of events, Hull confirmed following their derby day defeat to Hull KR at the beginning of April that John Cartwright would step down as head coach at the end of 2026.<\/p>\n
An explosive interview from the Australian prior to the following game against St Helens saw that decision brought forward, and the round eight loss to the Red Vee would turn out to be Cartwright\u2019s last game in charge.<\/p>\n
Within those days and weeks, there were murmurings that FC had agreed a deal with Steve McNamara to become the club\u2019s next head coach, something that the outgoing boss thought was \u2018awkward timing\u2019 and \u201ccould have been handled better.\u201d<\/p>\n
Those rumours came true and in 2027 McNamara will return to his hometown to become FC\u2019s next head coach. Andy Last is in interim charge for the rest of the campaign whilst the former England boss sees out the season at Warrington.<\/p>\n
Following an interview released on club social media channels, Richie Myler\u2019s side of the story came to light about how the side attracted McNamara\u2019s services.<\/p>\n
Now, Warrington CEO Karl Fitzpatrick has given the lowdown on their version of events, and how his exit now puts a halt to their long-term plans of a future head coach.<\/p>\n
\u201cFirst of all, Steve\u2019s been totally\u00a0transparent, honest throughout,\u201d Fitzpatrick said to Sky Sports\u2019 The Bench podcast. \u201cHe informed us about the approach.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re very disappointed\u00a0to lose Steve. We had him actually ear-marked down to replace Sam at some stage,\u00a0whenever that was going to be the case.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re also not naive enough to think, a\u00a0coach of Steve\u2019s calibre and quality, that should an opportunity come available, that they would\u00a0come knocking.<\/p>\n
\u201cBeing honest, we didn\u2019t expect it so soon to come around. However, that\u2019s the situation.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had a grown-up conversation with Hull and\u00a0both agreed on a compensation fee. Steve\u2019s totally invested and focused on\u00a0going out in style at Warrington.\u201d<\/p>\n
Warrington Wolves CEO explains Steve McNamara\u2019s Hull FC move<\/p>\n
Clarifying any doubts that McNamara could exit Wire before the season\u2019s end, he said: \u201cAbsolutely\u00a0not.<\/p>\n
\u201cSteve\u2019s really important that he sees this season through and sees it out in the right way.\u00a0He\u2019s had a really positive impact on the club, a really positive impact on Sam as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t forget, Sam\u2019s a young\u00a0and relatively inexperienced coach. I\u2019ve already seen the progress that Sam\u2019s gained from working\u00a0with someone like Steve, who\u2019s a very good operator.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut look, we\u2019re disappointed that\u00a0we\u2019re losing Steve, but we understand the reasons why. I know he\u2019s very driven to go out on the\u00a0right note.\u201d<\/p>\n
Co-host Jon Wilkin asked the Wolves Chief Executive what the process around speaking to coaches from other clubs is, and if it is any different to speaking to players.<\/p>\n
Fitzpatrick explained:\u00a0\u201cSo, they should approach the club first. When you look at the operational rules\u2026<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were approached at some stage, yes.\u00a0Look, I don\u2019t want to throw Hull under the bus here, do you know what I mean?\u00a0And they\u2019ve got a relatively inexperienced CEO there as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo they approached us\u00a0and we arrived at a compensation fee that we thought was fitting for relinquishing Steve\u2019s\u00a0services.\u201d<\/p>\n
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