Rugby League: Former Vikings favourite Kelly linked with return to Widnes

Oct 24 2007 by Ian Cheveau, Liverpool Daily Post

FORMER Widnes coach Neil Kelly has revealed that he would be interested in a move back to rugby league as Steve McCormack officially left the Vikings to become assistant to Justin Morgan at Hull KR.

Kelly is currently defensive coach of rugby union outfit Ulster in Belfast but he is contemplating his future in the 15-a-side code after realising he still has ‘unfinished business’ in the game where he made his name. The news of Kelly’s imminent availability after a three-year coaching stint in Ireland has already attracted the interest of clubs in the National League, including upwardly mobile National League Two side Barrow Raiders, and the new potential owners of Widnes Vikings may even be poised to swoop following McCormack’s decision to complete the switch to Hull KR as assistant coach, as revealed in yesterday’s Daily Post.

One consortium interested in taking over at Widnes claims they are in talks with two coaches about the vacant Vikings position but it is unclear to whether Kelly’s name is on that list.

However, the ex-Super League Coach of the Year, who is still a firm favourite with supporters after leading the Vikings to the National League One Grand Final success in 2001, says he has achieved all his goals for Ulster and is now ready to make the natural switch back to rugby league.

Kelly, fast approaching the end of his contract with the Irish club, said: “I have always regarded myself as a rugby league coach and that is where I see my future. I have achieved a lot since moving to Ulster, including winning the Magners League, but I feel now is the time where I want to come back home and I’m keen to get back into coaching rugby league somewhere.”

The Yorkshireman, who also led Dewsbury to Grand Final success in 2000, claims he has been following Widnes’s fortunes since he left the club more than four years ago and says something needs to happen soon if the Vikings are to move on and start rebuilding. He said: “There is obviously a lot going on at Widnes at the moment. But the club really needs to stop mourning the players who they have left and focus on the ones that are still there and have not committed themselves to other clubs.”

Meanwhile, Leigh Centurions secured their fourth signing from Widnes with five-cap Irish International Lee Doran agreeing a one-season deal.