RHYS Lovegrove’s decision to retire was taken not just to safeguard his own health but also for his family’s peace of mind.

The former Hull KR forward confirmed on Friday that he is hanging up his boots and taking up a role as a strength and conditioning coach at Odsal.

He will work primarily with the Bulls’ Under-16s and Under-19s until the end of November and is happy with his decision.

The 29-year-old suffered a severe concussion during the Challenge Cup defeat at Dewsbury in March and never fully recovered.

For several weeks after, he continued to suffer symptoms of concussion with frequent headaches.

He explained: “If I tried to train, it brought the headaches back on but I wanted to get back playing because I've always been the kind of bloke who did my bit for the team.

“I was following the protocol and it was 45 days' long before returning to contact work in training.

“I then took another knock in training, which was enough to make the lights go off for three or four seconds.

“That was when I thought enough is enough. If that can happen in training, what happens if I'm confronted by Fuifui Moimoi?

“I had a lot of discussions with my fiancée and my eldest son about what I should do.

“The fact he had seen me knocked out a few times was starting to effect him.

“I love the sport and I wouldn't want his childhood memories to be of me getting injured.

“In the end, it was quite an easy decision because my health and family come first.

“It's probably a bit younger than the average retirement age, but I can't complain because I've pretty much ticked every box during my career.

“I had an outstanding time at Hull KR and it was a privilege to play there with such great fans.

“I've come to call Hull home and then I got the chance to play for London and Bradford.

“It's disappointing I didn't play as many games as I would have liked to at what I consider a big club.

“But I'm lucky that Rohan Smith has given me the opportunity to come on board to try and help out in other ways.”

Lovegrove describes his new job as “fluid” and it remains to be seen how long he will continue in the role for.

But having played under Justin Morgan at Hull KR for several seasons and learned from Andrew Henderson during his brief stint at London Broncos, Lovegrove is optimistic about what the future holds.

“There are lots of talented people here and I'm really looking forward to picking their brains,” he said.

“Obviously I have always experienced rugby league from the playing side of the fence.

“I was lucky that Andrew Henderson gave me an opportunity to learn from him during my six months at London.

“It's a very different environment at Bradford and there are a lot of very good kids here, so I would love to be on board next season.

“Obviously recent events could dictate otherwise, but there is a bright future here at Bradford with all the young kids.

“On Friday, a couple of the Under-16s were training with the first-team squad along with a few of the Under-19s.

“Every coach has a different aspect to coaching, but a lot of my ideas come from Morgs.

“My transition from a young kid to a regular first-grader came under him.

“But I've taken plenty from coaches and hopefully over the next couple of years I will have the opportunity to refine my own style.”