NRL sounds out Fittler for Kangaroos job as Meninga to be announced as Bears coach
The NRL have approached Brad Fittler to gauge his interest in replacing Mal Meninga as Australian coach after a decade at the helm.
With Meninga set to be announced as the inaugural coach of the Perth Bears in the coming days, the NRL has turned its attention to finding his replacement as national coach.
As reported by this masthead last week, the NRL did not want Meninga to continue as Australian coach and want to find a new leader to take the Kangaroos to England at the end of the year for the first Ashes series in more than two decades.
Fittler is the frontrunner for the job and was contacted by the NRL on Wednesday. The other options the NRL are considering include former Australian captain Cameron Smith and ex-Broncos coach Kevin Walters.
Smith has made his interest known both publicly and privately, but it is unclear if the NRL has sounded him about the role.
Fittler is the preferred candidate because of his previous six-year tenure with the NSW Blues and his experience in dealing with camp environments. Fittler also received the backing of Phil Gould to take over from Meninga.
'He's done his time,' Gould said on Wide World of Sports' Six Tackles with Gus.
'I think with the Australia job it is very, very handy if you have experience in and around the Australian camp situation. I think for those players who make that level of football... to have (a coach that's) been in and around what the Australian camp looks like, feels like, how it should be run, is hugely advantageous.
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