AFTER making the decision to relieve coaching duo Glenn Morrison and Neil Spence of their duties, Bradford Salem have moved swiftly to hire the pairs’ replacements.
The defeat to Baildon in the Yorkshire Shield on May 14 signalled the end of Salem’s season, whilst it also brought an end to Morrison’s and Spence’s reign in the dugout.
Both coaches played a key role in guiding the club to their best finish in five years, as they finished sixth in Counties One Yorkshire, however Chairman of Rugby, Chris Robinson, admitted that the time was right to make a change.
Incoming for Salem is Bob Hood, a vastly experienced coach, who has a whole host of coaching accolades to his name.
Hood, who is the Managing Director at Rugby Union Coaching Services Ltd, is a former England Counties, England U20 Counties, Yorkshire Seniors and U20’s Head Coach. He’ll be joined at the helm by former Salem man Andy Robinson.
Discussing the appointment of the pair, Chairman of Rugby, C. Robinson said: “Bob Wood comes in with an extremely impressive CV, one that I don’t think could be matched anywhere in the country, obviously at our level. It’s very impressive, and his ideas around meticulous preparation have blown me away. Coupled with that, his ideas around mixing youth and experience are a delight to hear.
“Bob has chosen to bring in Andy Robinson from Baildon, and obviously Andy knows the club extremely well having been a former first team captain, while he played over 100 times for the club. He will return as Bob’s assistant and he’ll be able to learn so much from him, particularly in the attacking phase of play, which is where Andy will specialise. He’ll also take up a player-coach role, so he’ll be registered as part of the team.”
Robinson added: “On top of that, I think the RFU’s decision to implement a new tackle height law, which comes into the law book in June, will suit our coaching team down to the ground. I couldn’t think of anyone better to take this new challenge on than Bob because he has studied this law change religiously, and with that knowledge accompanying his experience, we feel that we have picked the right man to take the club forward.
“I’ve been very clear about the direction we want to go as a club to Bob, and he’s well on board with helping us achieve our goals, which will be to get out of this division.”
Robinson confirmed that Salem’s first team will get a well-deserved break over the summer months but admitted that work will continue behind the scenes in preparation for next season.
He said: “The players deserve a break before they return for pre-season because it has been a long season - one that was extended due to the Yorkshire Shield final, which I do feel has lost a bit of merit with some people because a number of the fixtures were given as walkover wins. As a result of that, we didn’t play for six weeks in the lead up to the final, so it’s key that our players get a well-deserved rest, and recharge ahead of a big season.
“Behind the scenes, we’ll be carrying on with our planning and we’ll get together at the end of June with Bob and Andy to discuss their pre-season ideas. We are not trying to reinvent the wheel; we’ve just got a few different ideas and some new faces, that’s it. We are extremely excited about the prospect of Bob and Andy leading the club and we can’t wait to see what the future holds.”
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