 Noble, sacked by Wigan a year ago, has worked miracles in Wrexham |
Crusaders coach Brian Noble has played down mounting speculation that he is set to quit British rugby league. The 49-year-old has guided the Crusaders to the play-offs in only their second year in Super League. But it is rumoured that Noble will step down at the end of the season and hand over the reins to assistants Jon Sharp and Iestyn Harris. "When the muck and bullets of the season have finished, we'll sit down," Noble said at the play-off launch. "No decision has been made on my part about anything really. "I like the Crusaders, I like what they've offered. We need to see some ambition there but they've done a fabulous job. They've kept this place on track. "There is no doubt the distractions have made it a tough year but I love the place and I'd love to stay. But no decisions have been made and we'll look at it in a couple of weeks."  | 606: DEBATE |
The ex-Bradford and Wigan boss has been linked with a switch of codes and also a move to Australia as assistant to his former Bradford mentor Matthew Elliott at Penrith Panthers. Noble's last match in charge of Crusaders could come as soon as Saturday when the Wrexham club take on in-form Huddersfield in the first elimination play-off at the Galpharm Stadium but he is confident they can can spring at least one more shock. Noble took Bradford to five consecutive appearances at Old Trafford before moving to Wigan in 2006 and he believes he has found the formula for success at the Welsh outfit, having guided them to five wins from their last seven matches of the regular season. "I've said over the last 10 years that you have to be playing well at this time of the year," he said. "We haven't particularly aimed to peak at this time but we've grown and grown as the season has gone on. We think we've got a decent little outfit now. "I don't think I actually spoke about where we could finish. As a coach you have to have an ambition and the characters of the people at the club are good. "We've applied ourselves and the commitment has been good. We now know the formula for how we need to play to win games."
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