FORMER Castleford Tigers head coach Lee Radford has made a surprise return to his former club with the Northampton Saints.
The Saints, ahead of their Premiership opener with Saracens on September 19, made the trip to The Jungle earlier this week as part of their pre-season preparations.
Later this week, Northampton will then train with rugby union side Doncaster Knights as defence coach Radford gears up for another season the green and gold.
Radford, following retirement as a rugby league player, took up the head coaching role at hometown club Hull FC, winning back-to-back Challenge Cup titles in 2016 and 2017, and scooping the Super League’s Head Coach of the Year Award in 2016.
The 46-year-old was then appointed number one at Castleford ahead of the 2022 Super League season before leaving in the early months of the 2023 campaign to be succeeded by his assistant Andy Last.
Radford joined Northampton in the summer of 2023, and helped the 15-man side claim the Premiership title in his first year at the club, and oversaw the Saints reaching the European Champions Cup Final the following campaign.