Melbourne Storm assistant coach Michael Maguire says he is thrilled with his appointment to the top post at English Super League club Wigan.

The Warriors' new head coach will arrive in the UK in the coming weeks to begin preparations for the 2010 season.

"This is a wonderful opportunity for me and I am thrilled to have been asked to become head coach at the world-famous Wigan Warriors club," Maguire said in a statement on Wednesday.

"I feel that the Warriors are certainly heading in the right direction and I can't wait to get started... I would also like to thank everyone at Melbourne Storm and all the coaches in Australia I've had the good fortune to work with."

The 35-year-old replaces former Great Britain boss Brian Noble, who left the club after Wigan's weekend defeat by St Helens in the semi-finals of the Super League playoffs.

Maguire has a three-year contract and will become the second-youngest coach in the Super League behind Hull KR's 34-year-old boss Justin Morgan.

He will be assisted by Shaun Wane, a former Wigan and Great Britain prop who steps up from his role as the club's senior academy coach.

Maguire will be Wigan's 11th coach in 11 years and will aim to restore the club to the top of the English game, a position they have not enjoyed since the early nineties.

A former Canberra and Adelaide player, Maguire had his playing career cut short by a neck injury and, after a brief spell in teaching, had been at the Storm since 2005.

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