East Yorkshire’s leading rugby union club has appointed a key figure with top level experience in both codes to lead ambitious plans to regain National League 1 status and drive the development of the game in the region.

Graham Steadman has taken over at Hull Ionians as Head of Rugby, a dual, full-time role with the priority of focusing on the first team but with the added task of filling some of the rugby development gaps created by cuts at the Rugby Football Union.

Steadman is known in rugby league for his spells with York and then Featherstone Rovers until, in 1989, a world record fee took him to Castleford where he made more than 200 appearances.

He also played for Gold Coast, Australia, and for Great Britain in test matches and a World Cup and served more than two years as head coach of Castleford before switching to rugby union.

He joined Munster as defensive coach and held similar roles with the Ireland and Scotland national sides and then with Newcastle Falcons and Cardiff Blues. He worked as attacking coach duties with London Scottish before taking a temporary post to help Hull Ionians tighten their defence as they battled to avoid relegation from National 1 in their last competitive action in March 2020.

Hull Ionians have bounced between National 1 and National 2 in recent years and are now preparing for a season which will bring a local derby against Hull as well as clashes against Harrogate, Huddersfield, Rotherham, Sheffield Tigers and Wharfedale
Steadman said: “The priority here is the senior team. From my experience during my previous short spell here one thing is evident – there is a lot of spirit and passion within this club and the attitude is spot-on, hence the improvements they made before."

“There are some additions to be made and there will be fresh faces added to the present squad but on the evidence I have seen in two training sessions there is the ability there for us to be competitive in this league. I have told the players I will make them better if I get total buy-in from them."

“When you look at the facilities they are without question the best in the competition and we have aspirations to get back to the next tier.”

Steve Townend, Chairman of Hull Ionians, said: “The RFU’s cost cutting has seen the removal of rugby development officers and we have always regarded ourselves as a community club so I came up with a job description for a head of rugby, which is head coach and rugby development."

“We talked about changing the mindset and finding someone who could also work on development with our own players and coaches and across the community with other clubs and with schools. The board confirmed that it was happy to proceed and we put together a package with some of our long-established sponsors who are helping us to fund it."

“They are particularly interested in the fact that Graham is also taking on the development role. We are already talking about offering specialist coaching clinics and helping coaches at other clubs, where we have some good links.”

Steadman added: “You have only got to look at the number of clubs in the East Riding. It’s exciting to think about the opportunities out there to help people step up to the next level and develop not only as players but also as people."

“I have always wanted to put something back into the youth level and teach them good habits from the outset. In addition the junior section has more than 300 members. It’s testament to the people running that section that these kids will be so keen and I am certainly looking forward to being a part of that.”