Rugby League Coaching Manuals

The 39-year-old former utility held a similar position at the Knights in 2006 after learning the ropes alongside current high-performance manager Lee Clark and predecessor Scott Dickinson in 2004 and 2005.

That came after Peden racked up 190 first-grade games between 1994 and 2002, including the ARL and NRL grand final wins in 1997 and 2001.

The seventh most-capped player in Knights history could have signed a new contract to remain in London but he and wife Jodie were keen to raise their daughters Mia, eight, and Zoe, six, in Newcastle.

"I had the opportunity to stay, but if I stayed for another three years, Mia and Zoe are getting to the stage that it would have been their home . . . but now, this is still home for them," said Peden, who is boarding with his parents, Athol and Betty, at Bellbird while he waits for the lease to expire on his own property at Dudley.

"It was a real challenge when I got to the 'Quins because the staffing was probably inadequate, but to be part of the building of the club where they can compete reasonably successfully in the Super League, it was nice to be involved with that.

"But sometimes other priorities pop up rather than just your professional career."

Peden and his daughters arrived in Newcastle earlier this month, but Jodie is still working as a nurse and must complete her contract before returning a week before Christmas.

"I'm the old mother duck at home so it's a bit comical at the moment," he said.

Peden has held informal discussions with coach Rick Stone and hopes to have further talks with Knights management to secure a permanent or temporary position.

"If given the opportunity, I'd like to help the Knights out in whatever capacity I can,"he said. "It would be nice to be full-time but there would be no stress if that doesn't work out."

Stone said much depended on whether Peden could secure employment away from rugby league.

"We'd really like to have him involved in the club again because he's such a quality person and he's respected right across the footy community in Newcastle," Stone said.

"He has such a humble rapport with the players, but he's got to get himself a gig outside footy, and it's got to fit in with that."

Knights chief executive Steve Burraston hoped to welcome Peden back on board.

"But we're a shoestring club and we can't just create positions, so we're trying to work out where we can utilise him and if we can come to an agreement that would be suitable to Billy and ourselves," Burraston said.

CRL chief executive Terry Quinn believes the Crusaders rugby league and basketball teams could co-exist, but Crusaders spokesman Chris Ohlback, the Gosford City Basketball Sports Stadium general manager, said sharing the name would "create confusion in the marketplace, because we're a relatively small community".

"We're just waiting for the Department of Fair Trading to come back to us and we'll make our minds up from there. Hopefully that will be in the next day or so, or the end of the week at the latest," Quinn said last night.

Knights chief executive Steve Burraston said his club was not insistent on the name Crusaders but hoped it could be associated with the Knights.

"We're supporting a team and it is a joint venture, but it is Country Rugby League territory so we're letting them handle it," Burraston said yesterday.