Kevin Moore's family association with the Bulldogs won't necessarily work in his favour when the NRL club appoints a new coach for 2009, chief executive Todd Greenberg said.

Moore is one of the leading candidates to take over as coach next year after Steve Folkes announced he was leaving the club at season's end after 31 years as a player and coach.

The current assistant coach, Moore has strong family ties with the club as the son of Bulldogs patriarch Peter Moore.

He also steered two Jersey Flegg sides to premierships in 1999 and 2000, the first division team to a title in 2002 and was at Folkes' side in 2004 when the Dogs beat the Sydney Roosters in the NRL grand final.

But Greenberg, who was recently appointed to replace Malcolm Noad, said the club was looking to move forward with the best possible coach, regardless of their history with the club.

"It (family ties with the club) is important but it's not an essential part of the criteria that we're looking at," Greenberg said.

"We need to deal in the realities of 2008 in a commercial world and the realities of professional coaching, which means the best candidate with the best skills set for the job.

"So it's important, but it's not something that will go against somebody else if they've got the right skills."

Greenberg said he wanted to appoint a new coach as quickly as possible.

"It will be soon, we haven't put a time frame on it but sooner rather than later, hopefully over the next few weeks," Greenberg said.

Stephen Kearney, Mick Potter and Daniel Anderson are believed to be other potential candidates while Greenberg said several others had put their name forward in the last two days.

Folkes has not spoken publicly about his decision to leave the club amid speculation his contract may have not been renewed anyway.

He refused to divulge anything regarding his coaching future or the impact of his departure from the club.

"I'm not going to talk about that stuff," Folkes said when quizzed on how his side would react against the New Zealand Warriors on Sunday.

"If you want to talk about football, I'm more than happy to but all the other stuff is off limits."

Folkes did confirm lock Reni Maitua would not make his first grade return against the Warriors after being ruled out with a rib injury.

Maitua was in line to play his first match since being dropped a fortnight ago after he was caught drinking in the early hours at an Oxford St nightclub.

He had been named on an extended bench for the trip to Auckland and Folkes said he was in the mix for selection after showing improved attitude and commitment during his stint in the NSW Cup.

Fullback Luke Patten will play after recovering from a shoulder injury suffered in last Friday's loss to the Sydney Roosters.

Dogs players maintain they have been unfazed by news of Folkes' departure.

"He sort of said it the other day, it was a bit of a shock, but no-one's really talking about it around here," five-eighth Daniel Holdsworth said.

"We're just looking to move forward, there's been a lot of changes with the club over the last few months so this is just another one I suppose."

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