 McNally steered the Wildcats into the play-offs last season |
Wakefield coach Shane McNally has signed a 12-month extension to his contract which will keep him at the club until the end of the 2006 season. "A lot of the players are signed for the same period - it's important for the club as a whole that there should be some stability," said McNally.
McNally revealed on Thursday that Australian stand-off Julian O'Neill has returned to the club.
O'Neill arrives after a brief spell with French rugby union club Pau.
McNally sees O'Neill as a replacement for loose forward Gareth Ellis, who joined Leeds in a �120,00-plus deal.
Wakefield also hope to sign Rhinos prop Chris Feather and Salford winger Andy Kirk before next weekend. Feather began his professional career with Wildcats and spent the last two months of last season on loan with the club - playing in the last eight matches as they reached the second stage of the play-offs.
McNally has also revealed the club made an unsuccessful attempt to sign former Warrington second rower Jerome Guisset - who like O'Neill switched codes at the end of last season by joining Brive.
"We spoke to Jerome," said McNally. "We were keen to sign him but we couldn't come to terms.
 |  O'Neill is a dynamic line runner, and his experience will be invaluable to us |
"But we're hoping to finalise everything with Leeds to get Chris Feather back.
"He is probably not going to get a lot of first-team footie at Leeds and he's familiar with how we play.
"With Duncan Macgillivray out for the first part of the year, we needed some front-row cover - and he worked really well with the rest of the guys last year."
McNally also believes the much-travelled O'Neill, who has also had spells at London Broncos and Wigan, will add strength in depth to his side.
"He's a dynamic line runner and his experience will be invaluable to us," said McNally.
"There were a few times last year when we lacked big-game experience and someone like Julian could have got us home.
"His wife is pregnant and he was looking for an opportunity to come back to England. He is 32 but he looks after himself and he is pretty durable."
MMIX
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