Last night Castleford Tigers announced that Craig Lingard would join the club as assistant coach following the appointment of Andy Last as Head Coach.
However, to the surprise of some, Lingard will continue to act as Batley Bulldogs head coach.
Many have questioned how such an arrangement will work and the man who masterminded Batley’s shock Grand Final appearance in 2022 has explained as such on the club’s website.
“It will be pretty simple because Batley train on the night because with part-time rugby you train in the evening.
“With full-time rugby, you train during the day so I will be able to balance the two pretty easily. I made a commitment to the players at Batley that we were going to see the season out together and I’m really thankful that Castleford have given me the chance to do that.”
Lingard is a highly regarded coach and was linked with the Wakefield Trinity hotseat last year after the departure of Willie Poching.
Many expect to see him act as a Super League head coach in the coming years and this is perhaps the next step in his development as a coach similar to former York boss James Ford who is now assistant at Trinity.
Lingard will be involved this week as the Tigers take on Catalans Dragons looking for only their third win of the season.
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