Mike Eccles has confirmed that he will leave his coaching role at London Broncos with the 40-year-old set to depart amid the club’s new takeover and restructuring.
Leeds Rhinos’ director of rugby Gary Hetherington will oversee the Broncos’ new era but the money has now seemingly come from Down Under, with former Australia star Darren Lockyer heading up a takeover for rugby league in London.
Lockyer is intent on appointing former Wakefield Trinity player and ex-South Sydney Rabbitohs coach Jason Demetriou as head coach and that means Mike Eccles’ departure.
Speaking after London beat Widnes Vikings in their final game of the Championship season, the Broncos coach spoke about what had been his final week in charge at the Broncos.
“It was a difficult week in some ways because it was the end of my chapter coaching the team, which people are now aware of,” Eccles explained to club media.
“It just crept up, I had no time to prepare for this job when I took it and it just feels like I’ve had no time to prepare to not coach the team. It’s just happened so quick.”
London Broncos’ future about “higher ambition and expectation”
Eccles made it very clear that it’s a positive future for London though as he reflected on his work at the club, as well as what is to come.
He explained: “The last kind of three and a half years have been about showing this group and club some leadership and I’m really proud I’ve done that.”
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Having taken over in an interim role during the 2022 season, Eccles took on the role full-time ahead of 2023 with the Broncos earning shock promotion to Super League that year after winning the Championship Grand Final from fifth.
With their promotion being so unexpected, London hadn’t planned for a Super League roster and as such they found 2024 near impossible to navigate but they still managed to pick up three wins before being relegated via IMG.
Having once again been unable to plan long-term, their 2025 season saw them finish in tenth with eight wins from 24, but Eccles has pointed to a brighter future with the club no longer about ‘surviving’.
Ecclers explained: “I felt I could impact change and I’ve done that but this next chapter is not about surviving, it’s about higher ambition and higher expectation.
“This is what the new group want and hopefully I can support them in that journey and we keep the culture and fabric of what we have built in tough times, along with a little bit of investment and higher ambitions. That’s what this next phase is about.”
London are one of the Championship clubs to have applied for a place in Super League in 2026 with the verdict on that coming shortly after the IMG gradings are released in mid October.
