Captain Lee Jackson has all but ruled himself out of the race to become Richard Agar's replacement as coach of York City Knights.

The 35-year-old former Great Britain hooker yesterday said that coaching was something he had never really considered in any depth, pouring cold water on Knights fans hopeful of seeing him take the reins from Agar at the end of the season.

It was officially announced on Monday that Agar will join the Black and Whites on December 1 as John Kear's assistant.

And Jackson is one of a host of names that have been touted for the number one job.

He said: "I have had no official approach or anything like that.

"It would be nice to be considered but I have not really put too much thought into it.

"Coaching is an honest task and there's a few sayings in rugby about a great player doesn't necessarily make a great coach.

"You can see it in football where there are some exceptional players but they don't always make the best coaches and vice versa. I'm not sure I would want to be in that situation.

"Besides anything else, I don't have the qualifications - I only have the one.

"Plus, I have seen a few of my friends do it and I have seen how difficult it is."

Jackson's current role as captain has seen him strike an important link between team and manager and he is aware of the attributes needed for whoever gets the job.

He said: "To be a good coach you need to have good man-management skills.

"You need to be able to translate things that may be difficult to explain to the players into quite simple terms. You also need to be quite knowledgeable about the game."

He added: "Obviously nobody wants to see a coach go but he's looking at himself and opportunities to better his career.

"Unfortunately for York, he's made that decision to go and we have got to say all the best to him. It's the same thing in any job."

Jackson said at the beginning of the season that this could well be his last on the field but after a sparkling campaign, the decision to retire must seem harder than ever.

"I don't know yet," he said.

"I just want to concentrate on my rugby at the moment and that will come when I've finished playing.

"It's difficult because nobody wants to think about retiring."

Updated: 09:55 Wednesday, September 15, 2004