RHYS Lovegrove’s career in British rugby league has come full circle, after he was confirmed as Hull KR’s new academy head coach.

The Australian has a whirlwind last six months.

He was sacked by Keighley Cougars in April, joined their Betfred Championship rivals London Broncos in June as assistant coach, helping guide them to a shock Super League promotion, before announcing his departure from the capital club earlier this week.

And now he is back where it all began for him in England.

Lovegrove spent eight distinguished seasons with Rovers, after joining them as a youngster in 2007, playing over 150 games for the club.

His playing career took him to London, then Bradford Bulls, before he retired through injury and joined the coaching staff at Odsal.

He took over at Keighley in the middle of the 2019 season after the surprise sacking of Craig Lingard, spending four years there, and leading them to the League 1 title as ‘invincibles’ in 2022.

The irony will not be lost on Cougars that both of their previous two head coaches are now working in Super League, Lovegrove in this new role at Hull KR and Lingard as the recently-appointed head coach of Castleford Tigers.

But confidence has risen at Cougar Park under new boss Matt Foster, and some strong recruitment and retention work so far in the off-season has given the club’s fans hope of an immediate return to the Championship following relegation.