Championship side Sheffield Eagles have confirmed their new head coach, with a former player turned Super League assistant heading back to the club.

The Eagles are in search of a new boss following the exit of Craig Lingard earlier this month. The ex-Castleford and Batley man had been with the South Yorkshire outfit for two seasons.

With the club opting to go in a different direction despite Lingard’s clear improvement on the side, they have turned to ex-player Ryan Sheridan as the man that will guide them into 2027.

Sheridan has had a variety of coaching roles since his retirement from playing in the mid 2000s. When now-Wakefield boss Daryl Powell took on the role of Featherstone Rovers head coach, Sheridan became his assistant. The duo worked together for around a decade after that, having both worked at Castleford Tigers and Warrington Wolves together.

Arriving at Catalans Dragons in 2024, the former Leeds Rhinos half-back has been the assistant coach in Perpignan for the past three seasons. This year, following the premature exit of Joel Tomkins, he acted as interim boss before John Cartwright arrived on a permanent deal

A statement was released by Les Dracs in September, confirming that the 51-year-old would be leaving the Stade Gilbert Brutus at the season’s end.

Sheridan is a Sheffield academy graduate and spent five seasons in the first team, most of which came just before the inception of the Super League.

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Ryan Sheridan joins Sheffield Eagles as head coach

Speaking on becoming the new boss, Sheridan said, “I am really excited to be back at the Eagles where I started my playing career over 35 years ago, so this is a full circle moment for me.

“This club gave me an opportunity and a start all those years ago, it gave me what was to become an unbelievable journey in rugby league.

“This is a new journey for me now. After speaking with Jeremy [Levine, Director] about his vision for the Eagles and his passion to see the club grow and become successful, it was something that I wanted to be a part of.

“To become the head coach of the Eagles is a huge honour for me, I can’t wait to get started and help the club move forward into an exciting future ahead.”

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