Neil Kelly on Cornwall RLFC, ambitions & recruitment drive

Drew Darbyshire
Cornwall RLFC

Cornwall RLFC’s new coach Neil Kelly believes the club can knock off some of the established names within the game.

The former Wales boss has been appointed head coach of League 1 newcomers Cornwall RLFC ahead of their maiden season.

Kelly, 59, will be in charge of the Penryn-based club when the League 1 season gets underway in March.

Neil Kelly on taking charge of Cornwall

He said: “I see it as a great honour to be the head coach of Cornwall in its inaugural season going into rugby league.

“We’re not ready at the moment, we’re not going to play a fixture this weekend, we are a long way off being ready.

“We’ve a lot of recruitment to do, setting up to do and getting the structure of the club right before we do play a competitive game.

“I think I’m the perfect man for Cornwall as their first coach because I’ve got great experience in both codes. I am a guy that has got a good name within the game.

“I’m very, very ambitious. I am going into the season thinking ‘let’s go to win every game’ and that’s not going to change. I’m not ruling out that we can knock off some of these established names within the game.”

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Former Catalans Dragons boss Laurent Frayssinous was due to coach the club when they were Ottawa Aces. However, Covid-19 killed their hopes of launching as the Canadian franchise. He is now head coach of the France national side.

Kelly was voted Super League Coach of the Year in 2002 while in charge of Widnes. He’s also managed Dewsbury and Leigh.

Kelly has enjoyed time in rugby union as defence coach of Ulster. He has also helped coach the Namibia and Romania national teams. Most recently, Kelly has been in the USA with Major League Rugby club Houston Sabercats.

READ MORE: League 1 ins and outs for 2022: Signings club-by-club

League 1 Cornwall RLFC