Wigan Warriors: Former assistant coach John Winder discusses his new role away from first team rugby league

Former Wigan Warriors assistant coach John Winder says he is enjoying his new role with the club.
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Since October, he has been helping to design and implement new applications that will support schools and training establishments, as part of his senior position with Competence Development.

Winder admits he needed to carefully consider his next step after working with Warriors first-team for the majority of the last decade.

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He said: “I had a lot of options to be honest, about whether I wanted to go into education, stay in coaching, or if looking for a head coach position would be of interest to me.

John Winder has a new role at Wigan WarriorsJohn Winder has a new role at Wigan Warriors
John Winder has a new role at Wigan Warriors

“You just weigh everything up and ultimately it came down to the fact that I’ve got a young family and I wanted to spend more time with them.

“This type of role allowed me more flexibility to do that and it’s still in an area I was really passionate about, so it was a no brainer.

“It’s a new challenge so it’s exciting times. It takes me back to when I started my actual working career I suppose.

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“I began in the education sector, working on developing sports in schools and working with coaches. It’s kind of gone full circle. It’s exciting getting back into that field. At the moment it’s going really well.”

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Winder, who also previously worked for Melbourne Storm, says he is delighted to still be based at Robin Park Arena.

While he is passionate about his current position and is completely focused on it, he hasn’t ruled out a return to coaching at some point down the line.

“No door should ever be shut,” he added.

“I really enjoyed my time in coaching, working with athletes and developing them through the ranks.

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“You’d never say never, but at the moment I’m fully committed to what I am doing now. The club has been part of my life for a long time. Obviously I was here in my recent spell but I also worked in the community department before I went to Australia. Having that familiarity is good and I still get to see a lot of the people who I worked with.

“It’s a big club and all the departments work together. Since we came to this facility, we’ve all been under one roof, so that’s been emphasised more than ever.”

Winder believes his background gives him a perfect range of tools to help with his new position within the club.

“My degree was in sports development coaching, so that was my first step into coaching and education, and I then moved into sport development pretty quickly,” he said.

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“I worked at community level and worked my way up into coaching positions, and the performance sector for a big chunk.

“It’s nice to have that full experience, gaining that knowledge and skill set. I’ve been able to put a lot of things into practice, and this gives me the opportunity to reinvest all that back into something that I’m passionate about.

“When you’ve seen all levels of the spectrum, it gives you the whole picture.

"We’re currently working on a couple of apprenticeships that are based on sports coaching, which is designed to help teachers within the primary school environment,

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and to help coaches gain better understanding and knowledge.

“Ultimately what we are trying to do is to create an exciting opportunity for everybody, so whether that’s playing football or rugby league with your mates or being at the top level, it’s about enjoyment no matter their background.

“Being able to help coaches understand and achieve that at all different levels is really important.

“There’s so many benefits that we all know relating to sport and health, and I think it is a massive thing on the agenda at the moment, especially after what we’ve gone through in the last two years.

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“It’s really important at this time when people are coming back to physical activity and coming back to sport that they are enjoying it, and coaching education is all part of that.

“There’s a couple of projects we want to get up and off the ground this year, so I’m really interested to see how they work.

“I want them to have an impact and for people to engage with those opportunities to get something out of it.”

From a personal perspective, Winder is hoping to complete his Masters in Elite Performance by the end of the year.

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“It’s a big thing I’ve wanted to do for the last few years. It’s one of my priorities to get that ticked off and hopefully learn some more knowledge and skills.

“I did my postgraduate diploma as part of my level four for coaching qualifications, I’ve only got a short section I need to complete.

“I’m looking forward to getting back into that and seeing what I can apply to the new role.”

While he is no longer involved directly with the first team, Winder is still keeping an eye on the Warriors’ results, and how Matty Peet is getting on in the role of head coach.

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“We speak quite often, even just about what they are doing and what I’m doing.

“I’ve got a lot of interest in how the team does. A lot of the young players came through when I was involved in the club, so I’m excited to see what they can do this year.

“Both me and Matty have a shared belief in wanting the guys to progress through the system and in taking a lot of pride in when that does happen

“It’ll be interesting to watch a game from the stands. I’ve never been to a game with my kids, so that’s an experience that I’m looking forward to. It’ll be different but something I’ll really enjoy.

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“I’ve been a fan of rugby league for a long time and I always will be, so I enjoy watching the games socially as well as professionally.”

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