New Warriors coach Matthew Elliott has moved to ease concerns about the short time span between his appointment and the start of the NRL club’s pre-season training in early November.
Elliott says he’s already sent a 13-week program through to the end of January to chief executive Wayne Scurrah and recruitment and development manager Dean Bell.
That happened “about five minutes” after his appointment was confirmed on Tuesday.
“I feel pretty secure I’ve got plenty of time,” he said after his two-year deal was announced on Friday.
“The way I want to invest my time the most is to get to know the players first.”
Elliott also said he hoped Tony Iro would stay on in an assistant’s role at the club.
Iro, who went from assistant to caretaker coach in August for the final two matches of the season after Brian McClennan’s premature departure, was among those interviewed for the top job.
Elliott said it was his “strong will and intent” to keep Iro on the coaching staff.
He also confirmed the Warriors were in the market to add to the three recruits already acquired for next year – Melbourne pair Dane Nielsen and Todd Lowrie, and Wigan halfback Thomas Leuluai.
Elliott said there was “an unbelievable amount of [salary] cap space”, which put the Warriors in a strong position.
Although the Warriors finished 2012 back in 14th spot, Elliott said the core group of players at the club “did okay” a year ago in making the grand final.
“They got to a fairly reasonable level, didn’t they? To be able to top that up is something that we’ll be doing,” Elliott said.