Monday 10 April 2017 14:20, UK
St Helens have parted company with head coach Keiron Cunningham.
Cunningham spent 76 games as Saints' head coach, spanning two-and-a-half years, including two Super League semi-finals and one Challenge Cup semi.
But the Saints have been far from their best so far this season, winning just three of their first eight matches in Super League this term.
Assistant coaches Sean Long and Jamahl Lolesi, and U19s coach Derek Traynor, will form an interim coaching team until the appointment of a new head coach.
St Helens chairman Eamonn McManus said: "Keiron has been with the club for 24 years as man, boy, player and coach. The commitment that he has shown to the club throughout, and in every capacity, has been without equal.
"It is both upsetting and disappointing for us all that it has ended at this point in time. Keiron nevertheless understands the position and, as a mark of the man that he is, wishes only well and good to the club, its players and everyone associated with it.
"His statue outside the ground is a deserved reflection of his immense contribution to the club. That is clear, obvious and permanent.
"We will now look to move the club forward and will immediately commence the search for a new head coach. St Helens is a world-class club with a great squad of players and its only objective will be continuous success at the highest level."
Cunningham joined St Helens as a teenager in 1993, making the first of his 496 appearances for the club against Warrington a year later.
He won every honour possible for the club as a player and won a fans' poll to have a statue of him built outside the stadium before later being recognised as one of St Helens' 17 greatest players.
Upon retirement from playing in 2010, Cunningham was appointed St Helens' assistant strength and conditioning coach, before becoming assistant to acting head coach Mike Rush in 2012.
He then served under Nathan Brown, later replacing him as head coach in October 2014.
Watch St Helens' Super League clash away to Wigan Warriors on Good Friday. Coverage on Sky Sports 1 HD starts at 12pm.
