Hornets not expecting change at the top
Rochdale Hornets CEO Ryan Bradley has clarified the future of Hornets coach Ian Talbot, confirming that neither club or coach have looked elsewhere for 2016.
With the re-introduction of Super League reserves being the hot topic at present, many are assuming that Talbot will take up his former role as reserve team coach at St Helens, but it seems Hornets will wait to see what happens in the promotion chase before any discussions are had.
Bradley said: “A few people have asked me now what is happening with Tol for next season, and the honest answer is we haven’t spoken in too much depth about it, either with Tol or St Helens.
“As far as we are concerned he is the Rochdale Hornets coach for the rest of this season and is planning for 2016.
“There are things happening outside of the clubs control that may impact going forward but at the end of the day we can’t worry about what may happen. We just plan for the future knowing what we know and if anything does change we will look at it then.
“Right now the focus of the club and Tol in particular is getting out of this league. That was the aim at the start of the season and we are still looking to achieve that.
“Tol won the clubs first trophy in 91 years in 2013, was voted by fans into our ‘Heroes of Hornets’ hall of fame and in 2014 achieved a league position that any other year would have kept us up. He’s a good coach and even better bloke and he knows the task that lies in front of him over the last 2 league games.
“A couple of wins and a fair wind and we are in the playoffs, 1 game from a final, 2 games from promotion and we have hot our target.”
Hornets and Talbot have been assisted in recent weeks by former Castleford head coach Dave Woods on a voluntary basis.
They are currently in the chase for a promotion slot but the season has panned out tighter than most expected.
Bradley added: “We set off at the start of the year with the view to win the league. We have invested heavily in the playing squad in comparison to recent years and the aim is promotion.
“Other clubs have gone with us as well, meaning the league is tighter than ever.
“Teams like York, Oldham and Swinton have very little rents to pay in comparison to what we have at Spotland, but facility wise we don’t envisage ever playing at a sub-standard facility. Crusaders and Barrow are very well supported and Keighley also own their own ground, so we are up against bigger players financially.
“We don’t have a backer like Thunder do, we rely heavily on our members and sponsors to dig deep and keep us competitive. We’ve taken a risk this year, re-modelling our finances, setting up a stand-alone foundation, changing the format of the lottery and bringing in an executive board to drive us forward.
“Whether or not we have been successful will judged by two things- if we achieve promotion and if we break even.
“If we aren’t successful, myself and the board along with coaching staff and the members will look at what we do and see what needs to be done to ensure we are a sustainable Championship outfit as soon as possible.”