Brian Smith has resigned as the coach of Wakefield with immediate effect after less than a year in charge.

Smith was appointed in May to help Wakefield stave off relegation to the Championship, a remit the Australian achieved when they defeated Bradford in the Million Pound Game last September.

Following a difficult start to the season that brought one win in their first five games, Smith informed the club’s directors on Tuesday morning he would be leaving. A statement on the club’s website confirmed the decision. “A press conference will take place at 12.30pm tomorrow [Wednesday] at Belle Vue stadium,” it said. “There will be no further comment at this time.”

Wakefield, who travel to St Helens on Friday, are understood to be stunned by Smith’s decision, with no warning from the 61-year-old he was considering his future.

Smith is the second Super League coach to leave after little over a month into the season – his departure follows the sacking of Chris Chester at Hull Kingston Rovers which was confirmed by the club last week.

Chester has been replaced at Hull KR by James Webster and the 37-year-old Chester already seems a strong favourite to replace Smith at his hometown club.

Smith’s final match in charge was the 42-28 defeat to Catalans Dragons on Sunday, a defeat that left Wakefield third-bottom. He expressed his disappointment at the result but gave no hint of his departure.

“I was very disappointed with our defensive performance in the first half and when we got ourselves back in the game, we let ourselves down with defensive problems,” he said. “The boys were still putting in at the end but you get no medals for trying. In professional sport you’ve got to be better than that. We’ve got to learn how to go with the opposition early in games. The opening part of the game is vital so it’s back to the drawing board for us.”