Liam Duffy appointed reserve team Head coach

Catalans Dragons are delighted to announce the appointment of Liam Duffy as Head Coach of the club’s reserve team St Estève XIII Catalan.

Liam Duffy, 36, has established himself as a promising young coach.

Drawn to coaching from an early age, he gradually built his career abroad before continuing his journey in France. A former University of Hull captain, he has coached rugby league in a variety of contexts, including helping introduce and develop the sport in Greece, Poland and the United States before moving to France. After coaching Salon de Provence’s U19’s, where he worked with Alexis Lis, he joined SO Avignon two years ago as assistant coach before being promoted to head coach the following season.

Fluent in French, Duffy enjoyed a successful first year in charge of Avignon, leading the club to the play-offs after several seasons without reaching the finals.

Liam Duffy

I believe the mission ahead of us – identifying, supporting and developing the next generation of young French talent – is one of the most important, not only for the Dragons, but also for French Rugby League and for the game across the Northern Hemisphere.

Obviously, I’m British, and very proud to be, but at this stage of my life I’m shaped more by Rugby League in France than in England. I’m not coming here to copy and paste what other teams do or to try and turn these players into Anglo-Saxons. I’m here to help develop good men, good citizens, and talented Rugby League players with their own identity, their own style, and with French and Catalan DNA.

Rémi Delherbe, St Estève XIII Catalan chairman

Along with Geoffrey and everyone at the club, we are delighted to welcome Liam to St Estève XIII Catalan. He is a young, passionate and ambitious coach with a clear philosophy of his own. We are looking forward to getting to work together to help our young players develop and continue to strengthen the future of our club.