Salford City Reds set to announce Australian Matt Parish as new coach

Salford are ready to announce their new coach, and they are thought to have settled on Matt Parish, a little-known Australian who is currently assisting the New South Wales coach, Ricky Stuart, in the State of Origin series. Parish, a former Balmain centre, has worked at the North Queensland Cowboys. He was brought into the New South Wales set-up by Stuart this year, after losing his job in Townsville. Coaching uncertainty has undermined Salford since Shaun McRae stood down for medical reasons after the team made a dreadful start to the Super League season, and they have been linked with a number of Australian assistant coaches as they seek an equivalent of Michael Maguire, who has made such an impact at Wigan since being plucked from Craig Bellamy's support staff at Melbourne. Parish may need a similar endorsement to the one that was granted to Maguire by the Rugby Football League in 2009, if he is to secure a visa to coach in this country. He does not meet the usual requirements of being a head coach in the National Rugby League or at international level. Salford's other targets are believed to have included Kurt Wrigley and Peter Gentle, who are on the staff with South Sydney and Wests Tigers respectively. But Parish's availability to start work before the end of this season is thought to have worked in his favour – he will be free at the end of the Origin series in early July, if he can secure the necessary documentation. Salford will announce the details of his appointment at a press conference on Thursday.