Whitehaven job too appealing to turn down, says Dave Woods

New Whitehaven head coach Dave Woods said that the vacancy was too appealing to turn down.

Woods was named as the club’s new head coach last month following the departure of fellow Australian Don Gailer.

The former Castleford boss is highly decorated and brings a vast amount of experience to the Recreation Ground, following a successful spell with the Tigers where he earned them promotion to Super League in 2005.

The Australian also won Championship One promotion with Gateshead Thunder and York City Knights.

“Whitehaven are a club that has just been promoted,” he said. “The job appealed to me and they are a good club. There were a few other places available at the time but I saw the Whitehaven job as a good opportunity for me.”

With the club bound for Championship next season, Woods has looked at his squad and aims to strengthen it during the off-season, so Whitehaven can consolidate themselves in the second tier of rugby league.

He said, “I was out on the training field with the boys last week and I’ve spoken to most of the players from last year. I have started to put together a programme for them and then they can carry on from that.

“We’ve brought in prop Paul Jackson from Castleford and I aim to bring in a couple more new faces. There will be opportunities for the amateur players in the local area during the pre-season to impress.”

The Cumbrian side go up to the Championship along with their county counterparts Workington Town and Barrow Raiders.