Eamon O’Carroll targets Super League in three to five years with Newcastle Thunder
Patrick Mago of Wigan Warriors is tackled during the friendly match between Newcastle Thunder and Wigan Warriors at Kingston Park
Newcastle coach Eamon O’Carroll says the club is targeting Super League in “three to five years” as he bids to lead the Thunder to Challenge Cup success at York this weekend.
The ambitious former Wigan forward, still only 34, has urged patience with the club’s bid to climb all the way up to the top tier, and revealed what has ignited his own passion as a head coach.
“I pinch myself every morning as I feel so privileged to be doing the job I’m doing,” he told Love Rugby League.
“Lots of people would want my job. I’m extremely lucky and feel I have been surrounded by good people throughout my career who I can lean on. I always want to learn and develop to be the best coach for the players I’m responsible for.”
Under the guidance of a rugby league legend in Director of Rugby Denis Betts, O’Carroll has led Newcastle to two wins from their first four Championship games, the same record as Sunday’s Challenge Cup opponents.
And while the Cup provides a welcome sprinkling of magic away from the weekly league grind, for Newcastle the road to Super League remains the priority.
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“We have hopes and aspirations but know it’s probably not going to happen in the next two seasons,” O’Carroll admits.
“ I look at the short term and what we have to do to get to that point in three to five years.”
O’Carroll starred for Wigan, Hull and Widnes, and would still be playing had it not been for a career-ending injury. He has taken that setback as an opportunity to learn. He says he is fortunate to have done so from the very best.
“As a player I was always hampered by injuries. So, I wanted to get in and around coaching to learn. I did that under Lee Radford at Hull and realised it was something I wanted to do.
“When I went to Widnes, Brett Hodgson was the under-19 coach. He invited me down to learn from him too.
“The biggest impact for me was going to France”
“This was magnified massively when I went into coaching under Denis Betts and also Francis Cummins who was really good as a an assistant there. He had a similar journey to me having finished early with an injury.
“But being a player doesn’t mean you are going to like or be good at coaching. The biggest impact for me was going to France (with Catalans Dragons). I was out of my comfort zone. I was coaching players I had played against and who were a lot better than me, like Michael McIllorum, Joel and Sam Tomkins.
“The higher calibre of player you work with, the easier it is to coach. First of all they are great people and second they know you are there to help.
“Coaching isn’t all about making them understand the game. These type of players know the game, but are they hard-working and preparing as best they can? I always ask for the players thoughts, I want their buy-in. As a collective you all want the same goal, so why not be open and ask for opinions?”
York v Newcastle is the live game on The Sportsman this weekend. The clash kicks off at 3pm at the LNER Community Stadium.
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