Wilkin says Cunningham deserves new contract

Correspondent

Jon Wilkin says that St Helens head coach Keiron Cunningham was deserving of a new deal at Langtree Park.

Cunningham is now heading into his second year as head coach of his boyhood club, having taken over the reigns from Nathan Brown, to whom he was assistant to during the Saints 2014 Super League winning season. 

The 39 year-old has now put pen to paper on a new contract that will keep him tied to the club until the end of the 2018 season. 

Wilkin, who played with Cunningham between the years od 2002-2010, has said that his former teammate was the right man to take St Helens forward. 

“Keiron was world class as a player and brings that kind of aura and respect into the dressing room,” Wilkin told the St Helens reporter. 

“He’s a great motivator, as well as a hard taskmaster, and being a local lad he wants the best results for the club and his players. He fully deserves his new contract and hopefully he will be at the helm for many years to come.”

With over a decade spent with the current Saints head coach, Wilkin knows Cunningham more than most, and he believes the time the former hooker spent under the likes of Nathan Brown stand him in good stead for the future.

“I’ve worked with Keiron for 14 years as a teammate, my skipper, and now head coach so I’ve a pretty good perspective of how he progressed in this time,” he said.

“As a player he was one of the most influential hookers in the game, giving him a unique outlook on coaching and how the sport should be player.

“He has also picked the brains of those he has worked under and developed into an excellend young coach with a great future ahead of him.”