DANNY Ward still harbours ambitions of being a head coach, but has no plans to be leaving his assistant role at Hull KR any time soon.
The former Great Britain international forward was at the helm of London Broncos from 2018-2021 and, most recently, oversaw Castleford Tigers for the final six games of the 2023 Betfred Super League season.
Ward rejected the opportunity to stay at the club he made 25 appearances for as a player and instead agreed a two-year deal to become one of Willie Peters’ assistants, but the 45-year-old still has a desire to one day return to a top job.
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“I’d like to be a head coach and that’s no secret in that,” Ward told The Bench podcast. “I do miss it at times, but I enjoy being an assistant as well and that was one of the first conversations I had with Willie.
“When we first talked about me coming here I got offered the head coach job at Cas, but I’ve no problems being an assitant if it’s a club that’s going in the right direction and there’s good people I can learn from.
“It’s totally different to being a head coach, you don’t have that sort of stress and you’re not so much dealing with stuff away from rugby.
“As a head coach, you can spend a lot of time not coaching and dealing with stuff outside of rugby.”
Ward’s time in charge of the Broncos included them guiding them to a surprise Betfred Championship triumph and promotion in his first season in charge, and won praise for his work with the capital club against the odds as they were relegated from Super League on points difference in 2019.
The Dewsbury-born prop’s main responsibility at Hull KR is overseeing their defence, with the Robins currently having the best defensive record in Super League – something which was also on display in their recent 8-6 triumph over Warrington Wolves in the Betfred Challenge Cup final.
Ward’s career has included a stint as defence coach with third-tier semi-professional rugby union club Rosslyn Park, and he is always open to any opportunities which come up.
“You don’t know what’s around the corner or anything like that,” Ward said. “There’s nothing at the minute and I take each day as it comes, and each year by year.
“Anything can happen. Two years ago I was coaching rugby union down in London and then out of nowhere the Cas job came up, and within the space of a week I’d moved back up here and I’m head coach of Cas.
“You never know what’s around the corner, and that was just for six weeks then the Hull KR job came up.”