Coach's position proves popular

Bryce Woodward and Mark Seymour are the leading local candidates but the race to become the new Northland rugby coach may yet be won by an ambitious outsider with a flood of applications hitting Taniwha headquarters.
Applications for the head coaching role at Northland rugby closed on Friday, with 17 coaches making a bid for the job. Now an appointments panel of five, which includes former All Black halfback Sid Going and will be chaired by former Northland captain and now board member John Campbell, will shortlist the candidates with a view to announcing the new coach early next month.
It looms as a critical appointment as the Taniwha look to cement their place in the Air NZ Cup for the next two seasons and rebuild the union's provincial rugby reputation after a tumultuous 12-month period.
Woodward, with his long coaching history with Northland and strong local ties, as well as his world title winning efforts as a New Zealand age group coach, stands out as a leading prospect.
But Campbell says almost all of the applicants meet or surpass the preference for the coach having coaching experience at or above NPC (Air NZ Cup) level.
The appointments panel has also consulted several senior Northland players.
"All the people are of a good quality and we have a good mix of local applicants and from around the country, with one from overseas. We've had our first review as a panel of the applicants and we will be asking for information and/or booking interviews in the next day or two," Campbell said.
"This is a really critical position, it is going to be a thorough process and we're going to be looking to use external help to make the decision so we can get the right coach in place."
While the full list of applicants is confidential, Woodward and Seymour are believed to be included and likely to be shortlisted.
Current Northland coach Mark Anscombe has also reapplied while also registering his interest in the vacant head coaching positions at Auckland and North Harbour.
But it seems unlikely that the NRU will reappoint Anscombe and will instead push for either a local coach to step in, or at least demand whoever wins the job moves to Whangarei.
"The feedback we have had from our stakeholders is quite clear and strong on that particular aspect. They say they want more presence [from the Northland coach] at club level and that is something we have listened to," Campbell said.
"In saying we want applicants with experience at NPC or better, that also includes people who may have served as assistants or technical advisers at that level and might deserve the opportunity to lead their own campaign."
That would throw Seymour into the mix, whose background with Northland stretches back a long way to include more than 100 games for the province and a three-year period where he acted as Northland assistant coach.
Campbell said there was an even split between Northland-based applicants and coaches from outside of the region who had applied.