Rugby League: Bell - I wasn't enjoying going to work

Dean Bell is stepping down from the Warriors. Photo / Michael Craig

Warriors general manager of football Dean Bell has said he wasn't enjoying going to work and needed a fresh start after announcing his departure from the club today.

Bell cut short his contract for the club which was due to end in 2016.

The inaugural Warriors captain has worked in various development and recruitment roles at the club since 2007 but says the time has come for him to move on to the next chapter of his life.

The 53-year-old denied suggestions he had been shown the door and said his early exit was the best thing for the club as they look to plan for the future.

"I just really want a fresh change and a new challenge," Bell said.

"I'm thankful for my time in the game but there's nothing in it. I've been thinking about it for a while.

"I could have stayed and seen out my contract but I want to do the right thing by the club.

"I want to make sure that everything that goes into recruitment, retention, development, that the person is going to be there for the long term and I wasn't going to be.

"I probably wasn't enjoying going to work as much as I used to and that's nothing to do with what is going on at work. That's more about me just looking for a new challenge.

"I just wanted to be fair to the club and think the time is right now and the club is in a good position."

Bell's successor has not yet been determined and some thought has been given to appointing an Australian-based recruitment manager.

In the interim, current football operations manager Dan Floyd will cover the player retention role and work together with Duane Mann to oversee the club's youth development program.

Chief executive Jim Doyle and coach Andrew McFadden will continue to handle any overseas recruitment.

After a glittering 14-year playing career that included stints with Eastern Suburbs, Wigan and one final season with the Warriors, Bell re-joined the Auckland-based club in 2007 as manager of the Under 20s side. He went on to become the football manager of the NRL side before moving through various development and recruitment titles.

In recent years, Bell tried unsuccessfully to lure several big name Australian-based players including Steve Matai, Kieran Foran, Jason Taumalolo and Trent Merrin, and was a frequent target for fans and media that were critical of the club's recruitment strategies.

"That's part of the role and I accept that," he said. "People don't know all of the facts but the longer I was in the role the more I got used to it too and you actually become a bit immune to the criticism."

Both Feleti Mateo and Krisnan Inu arrived under his watch but failed to fire consistently, while the likes of Dane Nielsen, Todd Lowrie, Harry Siejka, and Jayson Bukuya were all disappointments.

Time and resources were invested into the English experiment, bringing Leeds juniors Jordan Baldwinson and Mason Tonks to Mt Smart and paying a world record transfer fee for Sam Tomkins, while the likes of Peta Hiku and Tuivasa-Sheck flew the coop to the Sea Eagles and Roosters.

"Every player that I got in, I can categorically say that the coach wanted them because ultimately they decide what players we go for. I would say that we haven't always got the best out of those players too.

"Even Jim (Doyle) himself has found out since he's been in the job, how difficult it is to get these marquee players.

"Certainly Roger (Tuivasa-Sheck) is a step in the right direction in terms of the quality of player that we want to bring in. We're getting our development systems right and we shouldn't have to go to the market too often."

Bell is looking forward to getting his weekends back and spending more time together with his family at their home north of Auckland.

"I'll miss the staff at the Warriors because they are great people. I know the Butcher is the Warriors' number one fan but I won't be too far behind."