Crusaders players are banking on boss Brian Noble staying at the club to see his plans come to fruition, according to prop Ryan O'Hara.

Recent reports have linked Noble with a return to Bradford Bulls or a stint coaching in rugby union.

But O'Hara, who returned for Sunday's 60-26 win over Salford on Sunday, is convinced Noble is going nowhere.

"As far as we're concerned he'll be here next year," said the 29-year-old Australian.

"He hasn't indicated to us that he'll be moving on or anything and I know he's keen to get us in for a full pre-season."

Noble and his players missed out on that ahead of a 2010 Super League term in which they have confounded critics and doubters to mount a serious challenge for a place in the play-offs at the second time of asking.

The club went through the upheaval of being sold and relocated from Bridgend in south Wales to Wrexham in the north and the squad was assembled late.

But they are now four games away from a place in the play-offs having also taken the scalps of Castleford, Leeds and Hull.

The squad was only thrown together in December-January and Nobby [Noble] had had an operation on his knee and he didn't get his hands on us until January Ryan O'Hara

O'Hara admits losing Noble would be a massive blow, but said: "I don't think it's unsettling for the players because as far as we're concerned he'll be here next year.

"He hasn't indicated to us that he'll be moving on or anything and I know he's keen to get us in for a full pre-season.

"The squad was only thrown together in December-January and Nobby [Noble] had had an operation on his knee and he didn't get his hands on us until January.

"So although we worked hard in the pre-season, I know he wants to implement all these training methods and to have a full pre-season with us.

"He's done it all in the game, he's won premierships and coached Great Britain so I think his value is priceless to the team.

"Also helping [assistant coaches] Jon Sharp and Iestyn Harris with the work that they do and the influence that Nobby has on them has helped our team as well."

O'Hara says simply being among the contenders for the play-offs is a huge achievement for the Welsh franchise.

He said: "It's massive for the club to come from where we were last year and be in the mix for the play-offs is just great.

"There's still a long way to go yet and we're certainly not getting ahead of ourselves because earlier on in the season we thought we were flying up the ladder and we came crashing back to earth with four straight losses.

"So Nobby's got our feet planted firmly on the ground and he's been putting in our minds how much hard work we have ahead if us if we are to be in with a chance of the finals."

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