Kieron Purtill was most recently the head coach of the

Widnes Vikings The Widnes Vikings are an English rugby league club in Widnes, Cheshire, which competes in the RFL Championship, Betfred Championship. The club plays home matches at DCBL Stadium. Founded as Widnes Football Club, they are one of the original twe ...

in 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 sys ...

before resigning in October 2019 after signing a 1 year contract extension only two months prior. He is the former head coach of both the

Canada national rugby league team The Canada national rugby league team represents Canada in international rugby league football tournaments. History 1987–2000: Origins Rugby league was first introduced to Canada in the 1900s but was quickly outlawed by Rugby Union officia ...

and the

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

Knights/Elite Development Squad.

Background

Purtill was born in

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. It is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its ad ...

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Derbyshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Cheshire to the south, and Merseyside to the west. Its largest settlement is the city of Manchester. ...

, England.

Playing career

A former scrum half for the

Wigan Warriors The Wigan Warriors is an English professional rugby league club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester. The club competes in the Super League, the top tier of the British rugby league system. Formed in 1872, the club is a founding member of the Ru ...

Huddersfield Giants The Huddersfield Giants are an English professional rugby league club from Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. Huddersfield play their home games at the John Smiths Stadium and compete in Super League, the top tier of British rugby league sy ...

and

Leigh Centurions The Leigh Leopards are a professional rugby league club based in Leigh, Greater Manchester, England. Leigh play homes games at Leigh Sports Village and compete in Super League, the top tier of British rugby league system, British rugby league. ...

, Purtill was forced to retire from playing due to injury and moved into coaching.

Coaching career

He started as a coach at St. Helens before joining

as an assistant coach in 2005. At Huddersfield, he worked under head coach Jon Sharp, who rated him as one of the best young coaches in the game. Following Sharp's departure from the club in 2008, Purtill had a brief spell as caretaker coach alongside Paul Anderson. He then moved to St Helens where he worked under

Michael Potter Michael Potter (born 24 September 1963) is an Australian professional rugby league football coach who most recently served as the interim head coach of the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs in the National Rugby League (NRL), and a former professi ...

and then

Royce Simmons Royce Michael Simmons (born 2 May 1959) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer and coach. A one-club man, he played as a for the Penrith Panthers in the New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL) from 1980 to 1991, winning a ...

. He also became head coach of the Canada Wolverines rugby league team and in 2011 the England Knights team. He also did a PG Dip in Elite Coaching Practice at the

University of Central Lancashire The University of Lancashire (previously abbreviated UCLan) is a public university based in the city of Preston, Lancashire, England. It has its roots in ''The Institution For The Diffusion Of Useful Knowledge'', founded in 1828. Previously k ...

. He parted company with St Helens along with Royce Simmons on 18 March 2012 following a run of 5 games without a win. He has since been linked with a return to Huddersfield or to

Bradford Bulls The Bradford Bulls are a professional rugby league club in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, and compete in the Championship, the second tier of British rugby league. The club have won the League Championship six times, the Challenge Cup f ...

, both in assistant roles.

References

External links

Leigh Centurions profile
1977 births Living people Alumni of the University of Central Lancashire Canada national rugby league team coaches England Knights national rugby league team coaches English rugby league coaches English rugby league players Huddersfield Giants coaches Huddersfield Giants players Leigh Leopards captains Leigh Leopards coaches Leigh Leopards players Rugby league centres Rugby league halfbacks Rugby league players from Wigan Widnes Vikings coaches {{England-rugbyleague-bio-stub