St Helens coach to depart as rugby union switch looms

Eamon O’Carroll will leave St Helens at the end of the season, Love Rugby League understands.

O’Carroll, who is one of Paul Rowley’s assistant coaches at BrewDog Stadium, has informed the club that he will depart at the end of the season. He is expected to make the move to rugby union, with a role at Scarlets thought to be in the pipeline at the end of the year, though no arrangement has been formalised at this point.

Saints are not expected to comment on the matter until everything has been finalised.

He is currently in his second season with Saints, joining the club last year after one season as head coach of Bradford Bulls, who were playing in the Championship at the time.

Before that, he had two spells as an assistant coach to Steve McNamara at Catalans Dragons, which came either side of a spell as head coach at Newcastle Thunder.

His coaching career started at Widnes VIkings in 2017, where he ended his playing career. O’Carroll had played for Wigan Warriors, Hull FC and Widnes during his time on the field, making 149 Super League appearances.

But after almost a decade in the rugby league coaching ranks, a move to the 15-man code is now in the pipeline, and in Wales for good measure.

What next for St Helens?

For Saints, O’Carroll’s decision will leave them on the lookout for a new assistant head coach heading into 2027. Rowley currently has Lee Briers coaching the attack, with O’Carroll focusing on defence. With that, Rowley’s focus will likely be finding a direct replacement, whether that be an established coach or someone already within the game.

Saints have had plenty of different assistant coaches in recent years. Frenchman Laurent Frayssinous was part of the coaching staff initially under head coach Paul Wellens, who had been an assistant before being promoted. He is now the defence coach of North Queensland Cowboys. The likes of Richard Marshall, now at Warrington Wolves, and their legendary former halfback Sean Long, have also previously held coaching staff roles.

Saints are currently top of Super League after eleven rounds of the season, with Rowley’s side holding a two point cushion at the top of the table.