Willie Poching happy with his new assistant coaches

Correspondent

Former Bradford coach Francis Cummins is back in rugby league after being appointed as assistant to new Wakefield boss Willie Poching.

Cummins, 44, who was in charge of the Bulls from 2012-14 and had a brief spell at Widnes in 2018, worked alongside Poching at Leeds after bringing his distinguished playing career at Headingley to a halt in 2005.Willie Poching has also promoted Mark Applegarth from his head of youth role to that of assistant coach.

Poching said: “I am extremely happy to be able to bring Franny back into the game and to have someone of his experience and knowledge to support myself and the team.

“Having worked with him, I know all the qualities he will add to our team and the club as a whole.

“It also gives me great pleasure to be able to promote Mark Applegarth from within the club and to show our commitment to having a coaching pathway.

“He brings a wealth knowledge of our junior players and club systems and a hunger to work in coaching at the top level.”

Cummins said: “Willie and I worked really well together during our time at Leeds and we have always had a similar approach to how we want the game to be played.”