Haddin names Blues assistants amid domestic coaching moves

Brad Haddin has made his first moves in shaping his NSW coaching team, enlisting former Blues players Peter Forrest and Daniel Smith as assistants for next season.

Haddin, who is currently serving as an assistant under Ricky Ponting at IPL franchise Punjab Kings, begins his tenure as NSW men's head coach when preseason gets underway next month after being named Greg Shipperd's replacement in March.

Shipperd was sacked by Cricket NSW in January to give the team a "new direction", but the veteran mentor elected to coach out the 2025-26 season and subsequently led the Blues to a famous One-Day Cup title in his penultimate game in charge.

But NSW finished the Sheffield Shield campaign in second last place after drawing their final match with Western Australia, with incoming coach Haddin given a mantra from CEO Lee Germon to "win titles and produce Australian players" when his appointment was announced.

Forrest and Smith have both enjoyed recent success leading NSW Premier Cricket clubs Mosman and Eastern Suburbs respectively. They join the Blues after former assistant coaches Ali de Winter and Shawn Bradstreet were told on the final day of the Shield season that they would no longer be required.

The pair's appointments come after England great Andrew Flintoff was revealed to be in the mix for the vacant Sydney Thunder role.

The Thunder are yet to sign a men's head coach after Trevor Bayliss' contract wasn't renewed, and they remain the only team without a coach for KFC BBL|16 after crosstown rivals Sydney Sixers unveiled former Australian allrounder James Hopes as Shipperd's BBL successor earlier this month.

Flintoff has coached England Lions, England's A team, since 2024, leading the side during two tours of Australia, in January 2025 and then again later the same year alongside the Ashes series.

The legendary allrounder has also spent time working with England's senior squad in recent years and coached Northern Superchargers in the men's Hundred for two seasons in 2024 and 2025.

Meanwhile, Victoria announced men's head coach Chris Rogers had signed a two-year extension on Wednesday after leading the state to a third Sheffield Shield final appearance in five years last summer.

NSW is the only team that hasn't qualified for a Shield final in the past five seasons and will be hoping their new assistants bring some of their success from the level below with them.

"Peter and Daniel are well connected across the NSW cricket system and were excellent players during a strong era for the Blues," Haddin said today in a statement.

"They've also both enjoyed success at Premier Cricket level as coaches, by winning titles and developing players.

"We'll keep working closely with all clubs and emphasise the importance of performances at that level."

Top order batter Forrest played 15 one-day internationals for Australia in 2012 after beginning his career at NSW in 2007. He played 29 first-class matches and 16 one-dayers for the Blues before joining Queensland and Brisbane Heat in 2011.

After retiring from professional cricket in 2018, Forrest transitioned into coaching and high performance development, guiding Mosman to a first- and second-grade Premier Cricket premiership double in 2021-22.

Smith, who has previously worked in assistant roles with the Thunder men's and women's teams, returns to the Blues program having played 92 matches for NSW across all three formats from 2005 to 2011.

The former wicketkeeper-batter has also coached Premier clubs Sydney and Parramatta and guided Eastern Suburbs to the first-grade one-day title last season.

Smith and Forrest will start in their new roles on Monday.

NSW announced their contracted squad for next season earlier this week, recruiting discarded West Australian quick Bryce Jackson to boost their pace stocks following the retirement of Chris Tremain.

Hard-hitting left-hander Harjas Singh, who clubbed a record-breaking triple-century in NSW Premier Cricket last October, earned his first rookie deal, while wicketkeeper Ryan Hicks and top order batter Riley Kingsell have been upgraded to full contracts.

Opening batter Blake Nikitaras drops off the NSW list after losing his spot in the Shield side after two games last season, while Matthew Gilkes has moved to South Australia.