An assistant coach at the Brisbane Broncos, Matt Ballin, has reportedly caught the interest of two rival teams as he prepares to take the next step to becoming an NRL head coach in the coming seasons.
A former dummy-half for the Manly Sea Eagles and Wests Tigers, where he appeared in 220 matches over 11 seasons, Ballin has been regarded as one of the best emerging assistants in the competition.
This has seen him work in the Queensland State of Origin setup under Billy Slater and even be linked as one of the candidates who could become his future successor if the Storm fullback decides to pursue a head coaching role in the NRL.
Currently working under Michael Maguire at the Broncos, Ballin has attracted the interest of both the Gold Coast Titans and North Queensland Cowboys, who have recently axed multiple members of their coaching staff, per The Courier-Mail.
A move to either of these two clubs would see him work under either the newly-appointed Josh Hannay or Todd Payten.
“I have been coaching now for a while now since I finished playing, and the goal for me is to be a head coach,” Ballin said via the publication.
“I am in no hurry to be a head coach. I want to do it, but I have a lot of learning to do.”
Going from Assistant Coach to Head Coach is a big step, because of the change of emphasis from technical skills development to man-management.
Make the jump then fail, and the coach may not get a second chance in the top flight.
Maybe he could consider looking for a job in the English Super League or in the tier below SL. Pay would be poor, but he could experiment, win, fail and learn without the glare of publicity.