Rhys Lovegrove Explained

Rhys Lovegrove
Fullname:Rhys Houston Lovegrove[1]
Birth Date:1987 3, df=yes
Birth Place:Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Height:1.85abbr=onNaNabbr=on
Weight:103abbr=onNaNabbr=on
Year1start:2007
Year1end:14
Appearances1:159
Tries1:19
Goals1:0
Fieldgoals1:0
Points1:76
Club2:London Broncos
Year2start:2015
Appearances2:20
Tries2:1
Goals2:0
Fieldgoals2:0
Points2:4
Club3:Bradford Bulls
Year3start:2016
Appearances3:5
Tries3:0
Goals3:0
Fieldgoals3:0
Points3:0
Coachteam1:Keighley Cougars
Coachyear1start:2019
Coachyear1end:23
Coachgames1:90
Coachwins1:62
Coachdraws1:1
Coachlosses1:27
New:yes
Retired:yes
Source:[2] [3]
Updated:15 May 2023

Rhys Lovegrove (born 11 March 1987) is an Australian rugby league coach who is the assistant coach at the London Broncos in the Betfred Championship and a former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 2000s and 2010s.

He played for the Bradford Bulls, Hull Kingston Rovers and the London Broncos, primarily as a forward and occasionally as a . After retiring from playing Lovegrove moved into coaching and took up his first head coaching role as the head coach of the Keighley Cougars at Cougar Park in June 2019.

Background

Lovegrove was born in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

A Como Jannali Crocadiles junior who, while attending Endeavour Sports High School, played for the Australian Schoolboys Team in 2004.[4]

Playing career

He was initially signed by the Hull Kingston Rovers on loan from the St George-Illawarra Dragons until the end of the 2007 Super League season, but then made the move permanent. In September 2014, he joined the London Broncos.[5]

He was named in the Scotland Training Squad for the 2008 Rugby League World Cup,[6] but he was forced to withdraw through injury.[7]

Coaching

Bradford Bulls

In August 2016 he announced his retirement due to injury from playing to join the coaching staff at the Bradford Bulls.[8]

Keighley Cougars

Following periods on the coaching staff at Bradford and Doncaster, Lovegrove joined Keighley Cougars as assistant coach in January 2019 and was appointed as head coach in June 2019 following the sacking of Craig Lingard the previous month.[9]

In 2022 Lovegrove coached Keighley to a perfect season as the Cougars won promotion from League 1 to the RFL Championship and was named as League 1 coach of the year in the RFL end-of-season awards.[10]

Lovegrove left Keighley in May 2023, by mutual consent.[11]

London Broncos

He joined the London Broncos as assistant coach in June 2023.

Hull KR

On 19 Oct 2023 he returned to Hull KR in the role of assistant coach[12]

External links

Notes and References

  1. https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/officers/vRLpbJcsBZ4V-aUeH62C3DjzeVA/appointments Companies House
  2. http://www.loverugbyleague.com/stats/players/Rhys-Lovegrove/ loverugbyleague
  3. https://www.rugbyleagueproject.org/players/rhys-lovegrove/summary.html Rugby League Project
  4. Web site: SportingPulse Homepage for Australian Secondary Schools Rugby League. 10 October 2008. SportingPulse.
  5. Web site: Rhys Lovegrove: London Broncos sign Hull KR forward. BBC Sport. 15 December 2014. 5 September 2014.
  6. News: Henderson trio in Scots cup squad. BBC. 29 August 2008. 3 October 2008.
  7. Web site: Heckenberg out of the World Cup. Quins. 29 September 2008. 3 October 2008.
  8. News: London Broncos sign Jay Pitts from Bradford Bulls. Sky Sports. 26 August 2016. 20 February 2017.
  9. News: Keighley Cougars appoint Rhys Lovegrove as head coach . . 13 June 2019 . 17 June 2019.
  10. Web site: Ipape and Miller named Players of the Year . www.rugby-league.com . RFL . 15 May 2023 . 26 September 2022.
  11. Web site: Keighley coach in surprise departure . LoveRugbyLeague . 15 May 2023 . 15 May 2023.
  12. Web site: Love Rugby League. 19 Oct 2023. Former Hull KR favourite returns to Craven Park in new coaching role: ‘I really wanted this to be the next stage of my career’.