I’m taking a big risk
SHAUN EDWARDS says he is taking a “huge risk” by returning to rugby league as Wigan head coach from the start of the 2020 season.
The Wales defence coach will end his long stint in rugby union after next year’s World Cup in Japan, when he will succeed Adrian Lam at the DW Stadium.
Lam, like Edwards an ex-Wigan scrum-half, will take charge of the Warriors next season when current incumbent Shaun Wane joins the Scottish Rugby Union.
Edwards, 51, who has agreed a three-year deal on similar money to his current wages, said he could easily have carried on working in the 15-man code.
The 51-year-old said: “I’m taking a huge risk because I’ve got an established career in rugby union and could have worked there for another 10 or 15 years.
“Let’s be honest, rugby league at the moment doesn’t have a great reputation for sticking with coaches for a period of time. In union, every team has four or five different coaches and there is the Top 14 in France, the Premiership and the Celtic League.
“There are a lot more jobs in rugby union, so this is a big risk but one I’m prepared to take.
“It feels like the right time to come back to rugby league and have a crack at winning some trophies.” Edwards, who won three Premiership titles and a Heineken Cup as head coach of Wasps, said leaving his Wales post before next year’s World Cup was never an option. “The way I’ve been accepted by the Welsh people, they treat me as one of their own and I’ve probably never had support like it,” he said.
“Therefore it would’ve been untoward and a little disloyal of me to break off a year before the World Cup. I only left Wigan originally because my son lived down south and I wanted to be part of his life. He’s 21 now and lives in Scotland, so I’ve come home – Wigan is in my bones.”
Lam, meanwhile, is happy with the arrangement of working at Wigan for only one season – and revealed he could bring his son Lachlan with him from Sydney Roosters.
Lam will continue working for the Roosters until the end of the season and said: “I’m excited about Lachlan potentially coming to Wigan because he will fit our style of play. We’ll know more on that in the next week or so.”
The Papua New Guinean also left the door open to staying under Edwards beyond his agreed 12-month deal. He said: “Although I’m here for 12 months, you never know what’s going to happen after that.”
JON WILKIN is to leave St Helens at the end of the season after 16 years at the club.