Castleford Tigers announce Matty Faulkner as new women's head coach

Castleford Tigers have appointed England women’s side analyst Matty Faulkner as their new women’s head coach and education & pathway manager.
England women's side analyst Matty Faulkner who has joined Castleford Tigers as women's head coach. (ALLAN MCKENZIE/SWPIX)England women's side analyst Matty Faulkner who has joined Castleford Tigers as women's head coach. (ALLAN MCKENZIE/SWPIX)
England women's side analyst Matty Faulkner who has joined Castleford Tigers as women's head coach. (ALLAN MCKENZIE/SWPIX)

He has previously worked at Hull KR, both as a coach in the community and with their scholarship and academy teams.

When the City of Hull Academy was formed, Faulkner worked in the scouting and recruitment team with a particular focus on recruiting players from different backgrounds and increasing the talent pool.

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Following the split of the City of Hull Academy, he made the move to Hull FC taking up a player performance management role, putting programmes in place to ensure pathways towards elite rugby league and giving broader ages opportunities to progress.

But now the 27-year-old - who toured with the England women's team to Papua New Guinea in 2019 - has moved to Wheldon Road where he will work with Castleford's youth players and women’s side.

“I’m excited to be joining Castleford Tigers," said Faulkner.

"I’ll be doing recruitment for our College programme as Education & Pathway Manager, and as Head Coach of the Women we’re going to build a girls programme so we have a pathway for girls to come through and be Tigers players.

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“It’s time for me to move onto something different and try my hand at something new in a new area, give myself another challenge.

"That is the reason I’m joining Cas; I want to make a difference to what we do, support the coaching team and lead the Women’s team as best I can.”

His work with the national side, including their trip to France in the autumn, has given him an invaluable insight into the women's game at the top level.

"It’s given me some of the best experiences of my life in rugby league, touring Papua New Guinea and going to France the other month," added Faulkner.

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"I’ve really enjoyed working with them. A big part of my decision was how easy it is and what a good group of women the players are to work with.

"It helped make my decision to come to Cas and support the women’s game this way. So, if I can do it from a ground-level up into England, hopefully, we can produce even more England Women’s players coming through at Cas.”