Guest column – Glenn Morrison: I may be Dewsbury-bound but still plenty to play for at Trinity

The Under-20s I coach are in a home play-off against Featherstone Rovers at 12.30 and then it’s straight on to the coach and heading over to Leigh for the last game of the regular Super League season against Salford City Reds

If we win there, we’re in the finals which is huge considering where we were at pre-season.

Hopefully, we’ll get a lot of fans down to both games and we can get a couple of victories.

Obviously, it’s been a hectic few days for myself too after it was announced I’d got the job as Dewsbury Rams coach.

My phone never stopped on Thursday with people wishing me well but also talking about things for next season with Dewsbury.

I truly wasn’t confident I’d be successful with the job application.

There were so many people who went in it for it so I am really chuffed.

I was still playing for Wakefield less than a year ago. So much has happened since.

Obviously, I’d signed another deal to continue playing this year only for that shoulder injury to unexpectedly finish me in the off-season.

I’d have liked to have gone out on my own terms but it wasn’t to be.

I got the opportunity to coach the Under-20s at Wakefield, though, and it’s something I’ve really enjoyed.

I’ve been able to assist with the first team too and learned so much under Rich (Agar) this year.

I assisted too with the Exiles which was another surprise and, so, when this Dewsbury chance came up I decided to put my CV in and give it a shot.

Even before I got it, I’d told Rich and James (Elston) I’d put myself in the process. They’ve obviously both played for Dewsbury and both told me what a good club it is.

Rich has mentioned his record seven 40/20 kicks in a game for them a few times but I’ve also got memories of their ground too as it was the first place I played at in the UK when I came over here.

It was in a friendly with Bradford Bulls and I’ll never forget being knee-high in mud in the wet and sludge at Dewsbury. Bradford had good links with them, though, and I’m hoping Wakefield will too.

It was a big decision to give up what I’ve got at Wakefield but I think if you want to be a head coach, at some stage you have to show you can do it.

With the way the Under-20s are being restructured by the RFL next season, the Championship is going to be more important than ever.

It’ll be a very tough competition and, so, if I can drop down and do well there it’s not going to harm my CV in the long-run.

I’ve not sat down and set any goals yet. I need to speak to the current players there and then talk about recruitment but hopefully we can put a decent squad together and if we can improve on and off the field from this year we won’t be far away.

There’s been a lot of hours put in this year – day and night at Wakefield – so hopefully I can sit back and relax with the family and see what they all look like again soon.

It’s been pretty hectic but we’ve more work to do yet.

If we win again on Saturday it will be seven victories on the bounce.

We need to go and finish that job against Salford and not be thinking about the play-offs yet.

We have to carry on delivering the results and then we’ll see where that takes us.

Interview by Dave Craven