Peter Sloane is keen to coach the Highlanders Super 12 team again next year, but the board will need to meet certain conditions for him to do so.

Sloane was not prepared to go public on the changes he wanted, but indicated they did not involve money. "They are not major items, but just the requirements I need to be a winning coach in the professional age," he said from his home in Christchurch on Monday.

The Highlanders franchise is currently without a coach and an assistant coach. The positions were advertised in major newspapers on Monday, and applications close on July 3.

Sloane was the best-performed New Zealand coach in this year's Super 12, taking the Highlanders to fifth place in the round-robin competition. "I'm keeping my options open," he said. "I have asked for certain things that need to be addressed and the Highlanders board knows where I am at. The situation is not closed."

Sloane emphasised he had loved every minute of his contract with the Highlanders.

Colin Weatherall, the chairman of both the Otago Rugby Football Union and the Highlanders board, was aware of the issues involved. "It appears that some of the issues may be in the hands of the NZRFU to control," he said.

Sloane is acting as his own agent and is renegotiating his contract with the New Zealand Rugby Football Union, his employer. "I am more than happy coaching in New Zealand," Sloane said. "I have had good a relationship with the NZRFU and the Highlanders board."

Laurie Mains, the Otago NPC coach and Cats coach in this year's Super 12, has indicated he would be doing everything he could to help Sloane remain in the job.

Appointments for the head coach and assistant for the Blues, Hurricanes and Highlanders and the assistant coach of the Crusaders are expected to be made by the end of July. - Sapa