Stuart Donlan (born 29 August 1978) is an English professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

coach and former player of the 1990s and 2000s. He is the current head coach of

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

. A Lancashire representative backline player, he previously played for

Super League The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of ...

sides

Huddersfield Giants Huddersfield Giants are an English professional rugby league club from Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, the birthplace of rugby league, who play in the Super League competition. They play their home games at the John Smiths Stadium which is sha ...

and

Castleford Tigers The Castleford Tigers are a professional rugby league club in Castleford, West Yorkshire, England, that compete in the Super League, the top-level professional rugby league club competition in the Northern Hemisphere. The club have competed ...

( Heritage No. 862). Donlan began his career with hometown club

Leigh Centurions The Leigh Leopards are a professional rugby league club based in Leigh, Greater Manchester, England, who compete in the Betfred Super League. The club was founded in 1878, and is one of the original twenty-two clubs that formed the Northern ...

in 1997 before finishing his career with

Leigh Leigh may refer to: Places In England Pronounced : * Leigh, Greater Manchester, Borough of Wigan ** Leigh (UK Parliament constituency) * Leigh-on-Sea, Essex Pronounced : * Leigh, Dorset * Leigh, Gloucestershire * Leigh, Kent * Leigh, Sta ...

in 2011 and moving into a coaching role. Stuart's father,

Steve Donlan Stephen Michael Donlan (born 4 September 1954) is an English former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1970s and 1980s. He played at representative level for Great Britain and England, and at club level for Leigh ( Heritage ...

, was also a former professional

footballer who played for Great Britain, and was a member of the

team, that won the

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

at the end of the 1981–82 season. Donlan played for Huddersfield in the

2006 Challenge Cup The 2006 Challenge Cup (also known as the Powergen Challenge Cup due to sponsorship from Powergen) was the 105th tournament played for rugby league's Challenge Cup. It features teams from across Europe including England, Scotland, Wales, France ...

Final on the wing but the Giants lost 12–42 against St. Helens. Having spent the final three years of his career with

, Donlan became the assistant coach to

Ian Millward Ian "Basil"/"Minibus" Millward (born 22 August 1960) is an Australian rugby league coach, occasional pundit and former player. Millward is now the assistant coach of St George Illawarra in the NRL Millward is the former head coach of Wigan, ...

, one of Donlan's former clubs, after the pair previously worked together at

ahead of the 2012 Super League season. He departed Castleford in 2013 following Millward's sacking, and later became assistant coach under Brian Noble at Salford City Reds, where he served for a year before leaving the club along with Noble in early 2014. He was subsequently named head coach of the

national team.

Coaching career

Stuart's first game was the only game of the 2014 Colonial Cup. He led

to a famous victory which made them the Colonial Cup champions for the very first time. Despite his success Donlan was replaced by Aaron Zimmerle, the head coach of the

Queensland Cup The Queensland Cup, currently known as the Hostplus Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the highest-level regional rugby league football competition in Queensland, Australia. It is run by the Queensland Rugby League (QRL) and is contested by fo ...

team

Tweed Heads Seagulls The Tweed Heads Seagulls, often referred to simply as Tweed or Seagulls or Tweed Seagulls, is a rugby league club based in Tweed Heads, New South Wales. It is one of only two non-Queensland teams to play in the Queensland Cup, along with the ...

, in 2015 as he took over the role to coach Canada in the

2017 Rugby League World Cup qualifying The 2017 Rugby League World Cup qualifying process began on 9 May 2015 with the 2015 European Championship C. In August 2014, it was announced that seven of the eight quarter-finalists at the 2013 tournament would receive automatic qualificatio ...

campaign.

References

External links

*(archived by web.archive.org
Stuart Donlan rleague.com statsStatistics at thecastlefordtigers.co.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Donlan, Stuart 1978 births Living people Canada national rugby league team coaches Castleford Tigers players English rugby league coaches English rugby league players Halifax R.L.F.C. players Huddersfield Giants players Lancashire rugby league team players Leigh Leopards captains Leigh Leopards players Rugby league fullbacks Rugby league players from Leigh, Greater Manchester Rugby league wingers