Following Rhyce Shaw's decision to take a leave of absence for personal reasons, SEN journalist Sam Edmund has reported that the Kangaroos coach is unlikely to manage the team at all next season.
News broke on Friday that Shaw was stepping away from his position, while the Kangaroos are believed to be seeking a new senior coach.
“The club tonight chose to put it in the public domain. It always planned to put a letter out to members and felt they had to address what had really become a massive elephant in the room,” Edmund told AFL Nation.
“The rumours had been ridiculous and damaging and massively untrue, so the Roos felt they had to act in some way.
“The Kangaroos had permission from Rhyce and his family to use the exact words they did in that statement.
"It’s almost certain Rhyce Shaw won’t be coaching next year. This makes it incredibly tough for him to coach next year.
“My understanding is the Roos won’t have a coach for the trade or draft period.
“Rhyce has not clocked on for duty since the Kangaroos left the hub, he’s taken all that time away from the club.
“My understanding is the club has already set the wheels in motion to find its next coach. Paul Roos, who I believe will accept the offer to join the club on a part-time basis, will now help find that next coach.
“He’ll be on the selection panel to find North’s next coach. He was aware of the situation from the start of North’s approach to him. Ditto John Blakey, who has no interest in senior coaching, but was fully aware of the issues Rhyce was facing.
“The machine rolls on though. My understanding is this is hurting them somewhat on the recruiting and trade front, given that Shaw isn’t present.
“He might still stay on in a lesser role, that’s the glass half full look at it. Whether that’s viable or not remains to be seen.”