St Helens trio reunited as Featherstone Rovers confirm their backroom staff for 2023

Club stalwart Ian Hardman and former Great Britain international Leon Pryce have been confirmed as assistant coaches to Sean Long for Featherstone Rovers’ 2023 Betfred Championship season.
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All three coaches are former St Helens players and will link up again having been charged with the task of taking Rovers into the Betfred Super League next year.

More members of Featherstone’s backroom staff have also been confirmed with head of strength and conditioning Lee Paterson retained as well as head of analysis Tom Colley. Both have been on World Cup duty with Scotland and Fiji respectively.

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"The opportunity to get back into a rugby environment and work alongside Sean Long was one that I could not turn down," said Pryce, who has head coach experience with Workington Town.

Leon Pryce has been appointed as an assistant coach to Sean Long at Featherstone Rovers.Leon Pryce has been appointed as an assistant coach to Sean Long at Featherstone Rovers.
Leon Pryce has been appointed as an assistant coach to Sean Long at Featherstone Rovers.

"I am excited to bring my experience from being a player that has played at various different clubs and as a coach from my time with Workington.

"I am really looking forward to working with a good group of players and a good club that is definitely pushing for promotion into Super League.

"The Championship is a lot of a tougher division than what people realise, there are a lot of teams that are more than capable of turning each other over, so it will be difficult, but with the right preparation we will be able to give it our best shot."

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Having played alongside both Long and Hardman at Saints, Pryce is aiming to bring the champion club’s winning culture to Featherstone.

The long serving Ian Hardman will be an assistant coach to Sean Long at Featherstone Rovers.The long serving Ian Hardman will be an assistant coach to Sean Long at Featherstone Rovers.
The long serving Ian Hardman will be an assistant coach to Sean Long at Featherstone Rovers.

He added: "It was definitely a winning environment at Saints where we won a lot of trophies and we were very successful but Sean has gone on to coach at a very high level for a number of years and I am sure that what he has learnt will transfer over into Featherstone.

"Last season there was a lot of disappointment, I was here commentating on the semi-final against Batley where they just missed out, but this is a clean slate and a fresh start so hopefully the supporters can be optimistic and get behind the team like they always do and we will certainly be giving it our all to succeed this year."