Wigan are “seeking dialogue” with Shaun Edwards over comments the Wales coach made that seemed to cast considerable doubt on his proposed cross-codes switch to the Warriors next year.
Edwards is set to leave his post as Wales’ defensive guru at the end of this autumn’s World Cup but had agreed a move back to former club Wigan, where he spent 14 years of his playing career and won a number of honours.
However, he revealed at the conclusion of the Guinness Six Nations over the weekend that he had not signed a contract at Wigan and that, as far as he is concerned, he is “unemployed” once he has fulfilled his Wales duties.
His remarks seem to have come as a surprise to the Super League club, who are being coached for this season only by Adrian Lam, and they are seeking some feedback.
Wigan said in a brief statement on their website: “Wigan Warriors are aware of quotes from Shaun Edwards regarding his future contractual arrangements.
“Following the conclusion of the Six Nations and Shaun’s comments, we have been seeking dialogue with Shaun directly since Sunday to clarify to Wigan his intentions.”
Edwards’ comments came after Wales sealed a third Grand Slam triumph in 12 years, which saw the decorated 52-year-old collect his 50 career winners’ medal as a player and coach.
His next move seemed set in stone as Wigan announced last August that Lam would come in as head coach for 2019 before making way for Edwards at the DW Stadium.
Edwards, though, told Press Association Sport: “On my future, my next step really is to sign a contract, I haven’t signed a contract with anybody yet.
“So as it stands, come the end of the World Cup I’m unemployed. So that’s where I am.
“I agreed with Wigan and thought we would sign a contract. But then Wigan said, ‘it’s OK, we’ll sign one later’, and I thought that was unusual. And that was nine months ago.
“I agreed to go to Wigan, but I never signed a contract.
“I’ll consider all offers, league, union. All I can say is that I haven’t signed anything with anybody.”
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