We are pleased to announce the appointment of Darren Higgins as Director of Rugby as the Club continues to strengthen the off-field team for 2025 and beyond.

CEO Neil Hampshire explained: “The immediate focus for Darren is to provide support for the Head Coach. In the short space of time since securing promotion, Dean and the coaching staff have done a fantastic job of pulling a squad together to meet the demands of the Championship. The administration around this is immense and Darren’s appointment will free up Dean to concentrate on the coaching side of things.”

“To progress to where we want to be, the Club has to be constantly looking to the future and Darren will be working closely with the Dean to develop recruitment strategies for 2026 and beyond.”

Darren brings a wealth of experience, having worked full-time in the game for over 16 years, initially starting in game and player/coach development roles with the RFL and then Head of Youth Development roles at Sheffield Eagles, London Broncos and Castleford Tigers as well as coaching the Serbian National team in 2016. He is currently the Rugby League Development Manager with the Rhinos Foundation and has been instrumental in ensuring Hunslet’s involvement in the highly successful North v South Programme linking up with the Leeds and Hunslet Schools Association.

Darren commented: “Hunslet is a great Club with great people and I’ve worked closely with Neil, Dean and Phil (Hodgson) on a number of things over the last 12 months. The club have been very supportive of the final year of my studies on my Masters Degree in Sports Directorship and I very much intend to put these learnings into practice as we aim to make the club competitive as a Championship club both this year and beyond.”

Welcome to the Hunslet Family, Darren.