Gulls swoop for coaches
TWEED Heads have been inundated with high-profile interest for their vacant 2018 Queensland Cup head coach job.
Following Aaron Zimmerle’s decision to stand down at the end of the season, the Seagulls formally opened applications for his replacement last Friday and received more than 20 responses within 24 hours.
Among those to express interest to the Bulletin are Ben Woolf, Mark Gliddon, Joe O’Callaghan, Matt King and Kevin Campion. Other names who have been rumoured as high-quality potential candidates include current Easts Tigers mentor Scott Sipple and former Canberra NRL interim coach Andrew Dunemann, who now lives on the Coast.
Sipple is the most-capped Tigers player and has enjoyed a successful transition to coaching.
He is on the cusp of steering the side to their second finals series from as many seasons with him at the helm but is widely rumoured to be out of a job next year when Easts push to employ a full-time coach.
Dunemann meanwhile has
a solid background, having gone close to being appointed in the Raiders’ top job before losing out to Ricky Stuart, and has been spotted at Piggabeen Sports Complex recently.
Seagulls chief executive Scott Clark declined to comment
on specific applicants but has been encouraged by the flurry of interest.
Clark is offering a clean slate for an “experienced or ambitious” coach to put their mark on the club.
Woolf has openly stated his
desire to apply, having served a Gold Coast under-20s apprenticeship in the soon-to-be-axed National Youth Competition.
Gliddon will finish up as Norths coach at season’s end. He has already accepted an offer to join Wynnum Manly as a junior coaching director but has provision to instead take a Queensland Cup role if an opportunity arises.
Former Northern Pride coach and current Wynnum Manly assistant O’Callaghan had a strength and conditioning role at Tweed in 2009 and will “definitely be throwing my hat in the ring”.
“I’ve enjoyed my time at Wynnum ... but I’ve made no secret of the fact I have ambitions to coach at QCup level again,” he said.
King and Campion currently hold Seagulls roles. King played 191 Cup games for the club, retiring in 2014.