Castleford Tigers appoint Stuart Donlan as assistant

Donlan started and finished his 14-year playing career at Leigh Centurions

Castleford Tigers have appointed former player Stuart Donlan as assistant coach to Ian Millward.

The 33-year-old won promotion with the Tigers in 2007 and played for Millward at Leigh for two seasons.

Donlan, who will now retire from playing, said: "The opportunity to coach in Super League with Ian was just too good to turn down.

"Cas is a club that I enjoyed being a part of as a player, everyone at the club made me welcome."

Donlan made more than 50 appearances for Castleford over two years and also enjoyed spells at Halifax and Huddersfield during a 14-year professional career.

The former full-back and winger takes over from former Tigers assistant coach Andy Hay, who has joined the staff at Hull FC.

"I have fond memories of my time there and I'm glad to be returning for the next stage of my career," Donlan added.

We believe Stuart has the ability and drive to be a huge success

"There are still some of the lads there who were just coming through when I left.

"Richard Owen had broken through to first team and Joe Arundel was playing in the reserves. Hopefully I can be a part of developing guys like these even further.

"I'm looking forward to putting our own slant on things there and I'm really excited about the future."

Tigers chief executive Richard Wright said: "Stuart is very committed to turning to coaching in the professional ranks after three years coaching in the amateur game.

"He was a model professional in his time with the club as a player. Ian [Millward] holds Stuart in high regard having had him as his captain for the last two years at Leigh.

"The role of assistant coach is an important one and we believe Stuart has the ability and drive to be a huge success."