The man nicknamed 'Noddy' joins the Raiders as assistant coach

The Canberra Raiders have further strengthened their assistant coaching ranks, signing former NRL half turned assistant coach, Brett Kimmorley, for the next two seasons – a move that they hope works for them in the long-term.

Kimmorley started in his new role this morning, with the former NRL half excited at the new opportunity in the nation's capital, as he approaches the challenges ahead of him at his new club.

“To be given the opportunity to become one of the assistant coaches is a great career move for me, as I was considered more of a specialist Coach at Canterbury,” he said.

“It was an offer that Dave gave me and I think the club is in a wonderful position with the way they finished the year last year and the talent that is in the squad here.”

“My main role with the Bulldogs was working with the halves and looking after the catching/kicking side of things, and I’ve felt like I’ve done a good apprenticeship.”

“I obviously played for a number of years and learnt a lot off Des Hasler in the last twelve months, so it’s now a part of my development as a coach to work with Andrew Dunemann as assistants and help run the team, come up with some structures and input our ideas to Dave.”

With the Raiders on the lookout for an assistant before the appointment of Kimmorley, Raiders coach David Furner said that Kimmorley can bring about some new, fresh ideas for the club.

“Brett brings a wealth of experience from his playing career and also having the fulltime year under Des Hasler at Canterbury last year makes him a strong prospect,” Furner said.

“His general knowledge of the game is very good and I think what he’ll add is experience and enthusiasm. I think he will be good for our squad and good for our coaching staff.”

Not only does Kimmorley bring assistant experience to the club, but he will also be able to mentor the young halves at the Raiders in Josh McCrone, Sam Williams, Mitch Cornish, Anthony Milford and others.

“He’ll be very good for our young halves and we definitely need to utilise that, not only for our first grade halves but for our Under 20s, as well as the halves in our junior representative programs. It’s a good opportunity for us to utilise his experience.”