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| STEVE McCORMACK |


Steve McCormack might just be the hardest working coach in Rugby League. In a World Cup year, he is preparing to coach two different nations – and, uniquely, two different genders.


moment the added pressure of doing it twice and for two different nations in the same calendar year.


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Throw into the mix a full-time day job as a PE teacher and Steve McCormack must be considered one of the hardest working coaches in Rugby League.


McCormack is the Head Coach of both the Scotland men’s and England women’s teams – both of whom will be in World Cup action later this year. It’s a challenging schedule, but one that the down-to-earth Wiganer is relishing:


‘Some people don’t get to do this once, never mind twice, and in the same year as well. It is a huge honour and I wouldn’t be doing it if I didn’t think I could do both teams justice.’


The son of former Oldham player Jim McCormack, is not one to complain about the pressures of working a full- time job at the same time as leading two national teams. In fact, the opposite is true, as coaching Scotland for the


magine carrying on your shoulders the hopes and dreams of a nation as a World Cup coach. As daunting as that sounds, just consider for a


past 10 years has meant so much more than simply turning up on the training field a week before an international game and putting the players through their paces.


‘It’s always going to be tough [promoting Rugby League] with the popularity of rugby union and football in Scotland,’ he explains the 40 year old. ‘One thing we have been trying to do is develop a pathway for both players and coaches from a younger age.


‘Once we get them involved and playing the game, it’s a sport they tend to stick with. So even though it’s not got the hardcore element of supporters, we now have the structures in place to allow people to grow to love the game.


‘Certainly over the last 10 years we have had slow gains and participation levels have risen. I think we put Scotland on the Rugby League map when we beat Fiji in 2008 and won a World Cup game for the first time. We are looking for a decent World Cup again this year. It is going to be difficult, but overall we have made great strides,’ said McCormack


‘Our target this time is to try and get out of our group. It’s a real challenge as we play the USA, Tonga and Italy, but we are a close-knit group, used to being the underdogs, and we have a great collection of young players who have progressed through the system together.’


The England squad for the women’s world cup


McCormack’s coaching career began at Salford in 1995 where the fitness instructor joined the coaching staff as the ‘Original Red Devils’ moved into Super League. In 2004, the RFL’s then Technical Director David Waite asked him to take the Scotland reins. Spells at Widnes and Barrow followed, but his time at the helm of The Bravehearts has always remained constant.


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