Manly great Geoff Toovey has been officially appointed coach of the newly resuscitated Bradford Bulls club.
Toovey, who has been out of rugby league since being dumped as Sea Eagles coach after the 2015 NRL season, will arrive in west Yorkshire to formally take control at the end of next week.
The former NSW and Australia representative was approached by new Bulls owners, Graham Lowe and ex-NZRL chairman Andrew Chalmers, who saved the recently liquidated club in a deal that was ratified by the RFL last week.
Lowe coached Toovey at Manly in the 1990s and said the 47-year-old is the perfect man to lift a team that will start in the second tier of the English game on minus 12 points.
The Bulls have also lost several first-grade players and have yet to put together a final roster for the 2017 season which kicks off in just two weeks' time.
Despite those hurdles, Lowe said it was easy to sell his vision for the future to Toovey.
"Tooves is a rugby league man first and last," Lowe said a press conference at the Odsal Stadium on Friday.
"I didn't paint him pretty pictures on the phone and gave him a little time to think about it. He agreed and that speaks volumes of the man.
"He didn't take much convincing at all."
Bradford are one of the great names in English rugby league and were the dominant force in the early-mid 2000s under coach Brian Noble.
It is also the club that produced South Sydney superstar Sam Burgess and Lowe said Toovey is the first step towards a return to the glory days.
"He is a proven, uncompromising coach and the young players will thrive under him," he said.
"I knew as a young player he had that leadership quality about him
"Everybody will be thrilled with him, not just Bradford Bulls but the game up here. Geoff will add to that.
"Don't expect any politics, he's a football man. He's a players' coach.
"So pleased we've been able to get an agreement with him. He's also one of the people around the place who is shorter than I am!"
In a brief statement, Toovey said he's excited about the challenge but under no illusions about the size of the task ahead of him.
"I understand how tough it has been for everyone," Toovey said
"This is our time now to turn things around.
"I'm well aware of the challenge ahead of us but as coaches and players these are the things that encourage us."
