Former Whitehaven coach James Coyle has been talking about his affection for Hunslet Hawks after returning to the club.

Coyle admits it’s an exciting time to be rejoining the Hawks but cites his affection for the club as the real motivating factor in him taking up his first job since parting company with Whitehaven.

“To be honest, I probably would have never left the club if it wasn’t for Steve Deakin,” said Coyle.

“I’ve got a really good relationship with him, as we’ve known each other 10 or 11 years now and every time we’ve worked together I’ve really enjoyed it.

“The opportunity came up to work under him as assistant at Whitehaven and that was literally the only reason why I left Hunslet.

"The club was always good to me and I enjoyed my time here, even though it was hampered a little by injuries towards the back end of my career."

He added:“I don’t think the rebranding and the kit deal and all of that played a massive part but it is more exciting that that’s going on at the same time."

Coyle was given his chance by Deakin and, when the coach suddenly decided to quit ahead of the 2015 season, his protégé was handed the reins.

Whitehaven just survived in the Championship last year but were heading for relegation this time round when Coyle was sacked by the Recreation Ground board.

Coyle, who played for Workington Town before joining Hunslet three years ago, has persuaded Deakin, a man who has a wealth of experience in the game, to join his coaching team at the club, continuing a partnership that has developed over a decade.

Mark Cass remains in his role at the club too, and Coyle admits the fact all three know and have worked with each other before will be beneficial.

He says: “I think the fact that we’ve all worked together before is a plus.

"Mark was Deaks’ assistant in 2008 at Oldham when I was playing there and we made the grand final.

"Me and Deaks have worked together a lot and obviously I was back with Mark when I was here, so the team know each other pretty well.

“We’ve got a couple of new faces to join in too like conditioner Dave Bell and I’m hoping that we’re all singing off the same hymn sheet and we’ll all buy into the same idea’s and beliefs in what we want to achieve.

"It’s going to be a tight knit coaching group and we’ll all have each other’s back.”

Hunslet, of course, will be in League One with Whitehaven and Workington Town next season.

There could be another familiar face at Hunslet, too, because Whitehaven’s 2016 Player of the Year Dave Allen is being touted at Coyle’s first signing.