The New Zealand Warriors have made two key changes to their coaching staff for next season in regards to their assistant coach and NSW Cup coach.
The club has confirmed that Slade Griffin will move into the assistant coaching role, whilst David Tangata-Toa will replace Griffin as the Warriors NSW Cup coach.
The promotion of 32-year-old Griffin sees him replace the departing Justin Morgan and will see him work under reigning Dally M Coach of the Year Andrew Webster alongside Stacey Jones and Richard Agar.
Tangata-Toa will bring a wealth of experience to the NSW Cup head coaching role after previously working with the Penrith Panthers, North Queensland Cowboys, Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs and Mate Ma'a Tonga.
โOur commitment as a club is to develop and promote coaches and players from within our system and Slade's appointment is the perfect example of that,โ said One New Zealand Warriors general manager recruitment, pathways and development Andrew McFadden in a club statement.
โHe's an outstanding young coach who has made a huge impression since arriving at the club four years ago.
โHe did a terrific job with our New South Wales Cup side this year and has worked hard to earn this opportunity.
โIn David we have a coach with vast experience at all levels. He's a perfect fit to come in to take the reins with our reserve grade side.โ
McFadden's words were followed by that of coach Andrew Webster. Webster admitted he was excited to work with Slade Griffin at the first-grade level and was happy about the promotion of David Tangata-Toa.
Webster and Tangata-Toa have a close relationship with each other that began when the latter was playing at Hull Kingston Rovers in the Super League while the former was an assistant coach at the club.
โSlade has made a huge impression on me with his ability to develop our local talent, transition our NRL players back to Cup and find a way to win in the process. It's a great feeling to promote from within our structure,โ said Webster.
โDavid joins our NRL coaching team where he'll be our New South Wales Cup coach.
โHe has had huge success at developing talent at a number of clubs and has been a part of Tonga's climb on the world stage as an assistant coach.โ
