Premiership-winning former Canterbury boss Steve Folkes' return to coaching is set to move another step closer when he becomes one of Tim Sheens' assistants at the Wests Tigers next year.

Currently the Tigers' conditioner, Folkes is likely to step into a coaching role after current assistant Royce Simmons' move to English club St Helens.

Folkes recently said he still had the coaching bug and even missed the pressure of a full-time gig in the NRL.

He quit the Bulldogs at the end of 2008 after 10 years at the helm, which included winning the 2004 title.

Tigers chief executive Stephen Humphreys said he had sounded out Folkes about a different role in 2011.

"Steve's been tremendous this year, he's fitted in really well and added a lot to the business and he's up for whichever role we think he can contribute best in," Humphreys told AAP on Thursday.

"Right now the way our thinking is, we do have a good group of experienced coaches already on board ... Steve Folkes of course could provide some more input into that area, there's one option.

"It's more than likely that we'll just go with a slight shift in responsibilities from our existing staff and that may allow us to bring in some additional specialists in some areas that we feel might add something to the mix.

"(There's) no final decisions at the moment but I would imagine it would head that way rather than just replace Royce with another full-time assistant."

Folkes would join current assistant Peter Gentle and under-20s coach Grant Jones under Test boss Sheens, whose current contract runs until the end of 2011.

Humphreys' comments came as the Tigers announced a government-funded $2.5 million upgrade to their spiritual home, Leichhardt Oval.

The improvements include the replacement of seats and amenities blocks and the installation of a state of the art electronic scoreboard.

Leichhardt had been spoken about as a potential week one home final venue for the Tigers, but Humphreys defended the decision to take the game, won dramatically by the Sydney Roosters 19-15 , to the Sydney Football Stadium.

"The decision we made for our home final, we believe, was the right decision," he said.

"Anyone who was at the Football Stadium for that epic encounter would agree that it was an atmosphere that would be difficult to replicate."

The Tigers are also unlikely to increase their current quota of four regular season games per season at the inner west venue.

The joint venture club also plays four games at Campbelltown and four at the SFS.

"I feel now we've evolved into a model that suits us," Humphreys said.

"The work that's being proposed will certainly help protect those four games ... and it keeps our options open going forward."

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