Hull confirm appointment of Kieron Purtill as assistant

Hull have appointed Kieron Purtill as assistant coach on a three-year deal, after he quit his role at Widnes.

Purtill, 42, will focus on attacking structures as well as taking the lead role with the club’s emerging talent squad, acting as head coach of the club’s reserves team.

He said: “I’m ecstatic to be heading to Hull. To be back in Super League and have the opportunity to be involved in such a famous and well-supported club is something I’m really looking forward to.

“You get your most fulfilment out of seeing players you coached from a young age progress and become stars. One of the most important aspects of a modern day club is having that right culture and environment to bring through those younger players and that is something I want to play a part in.

“There is a lot of young talent to work with at Hull. Its a great testament to them that they have been so vocal in bringing the reserves back and I’m excited to be part of that strong attitude towards it.”

Purtill has been head coach of Leigh and Widnes in the past two seasons, and has previously worked with St Helens, Huddersfield and England Knights.

Hull coach Lee Radford said: “Kieron’s CV speaks for itself and his experience and specialism in some of the areas we want him to influence will be particularly valuable to us, including working on some attacking structures and helping nurture the next generation of players coming through our emerging talent programme.

“He comes with some extremely strong references from a number of established people in the game which speaks volumes and has done a great job of late in testing circumstances at Widnes.”