Benson handed Roughyeds job
Reporter: Matthew Chambers
Date published: 21 October 2008
NEW Roughyeds coach Tony Benson (right) with club chairman Bill Quinn.
ROUGHYEDS chairman Bill Quinn believes the “passion” of new head coach Tony Benson will drive the club to promotion next season.
The 42-year-old Kiwi, formerly of Leigh and London Skolars, was today confirmed as the new man at the helm for Oldham, taking over from the outgoing Steve Deakin.
Benson has signed a one-year deal with the option of an additional term should the team gain elevation to National League One in 2009.
“His ability, his professionalism and most of all, the club has an ethos which is based on drive, passion, desire and the commitment we were looking for all shone out from him in the many meetings and discussions we had with him,” said Quinn of the new man in charge.
“We were very surprised with the amount and the high calibre of candidates we had, to be honest. It shows that Oldham is still a very attractive proposition to any coach out there.
“In the end, it wasn’t a difficult decision. It was unanimous that he was the right man for the job.”
Benson started out his coaching career in 2001 at Hibiscus Coast Raiders in New Zealand’s Bartercard Cup, a competition in which Leeds Rhinos coach Brian McClennan also cut his teeth.
Spending four years there, he also took charge of the Junior Kiwis under-19s team between 2003 and 2005, before moving to England to take charge at Leigh following the departure of Darren Abram.
In his solitary season at Hilton Park in 2006, Benson saw his side end Hull KR’s 25-match unbeaten streak by guiding Leigh to Northern Rail Cup final glory, ending the season in third place in NL1.
In 2007 Benson helped with Ireland’s World Cup preparations, working with the resident Irish players, while last year he spent a term in North London at NL2’s Skolars.
He now takes over in the role from Steve Deakin, whose contract was not renewed after Oldham failed to gain promotion to National League One last season, and currently has 13 players in his squad with more expected to arrive later this week.
