Hull Kingston Rovers have announced the appointment of Jamie Peacock MBE in a new role as Football Manager from 2016.
The Leeds Rhinos prop has confirmed his retirement from rugby league at the end of the current season and will bring the curtain down on a glittering career after completing a tenth and final campaign with the Headingley club.
Peacock, who has won eight Super League Grand Finals as well as making over 500 appearances for Leeds, Bradford, Yorkshire, England and Great Britain, will then move to the KC Lightstream Stadium to take up an exciting new challenge from next season.
Commenting on his move, Peacock said: “I have had a great time at Leeds and learnt so much about how the club is run from top to bottom.
“The Rhinos are a blueprint for a successful sporting business and the challenge for me now is to take those lessons and try and implement my own thoughts in a new environment.
“Hull KR are a club with huge potential within a city that is rugby league mad and having invested wisely in their facilities in recent years. I know a number of people over there already and I am looking forward to working with Chris Chester, Willie Poching, Mike Smith and Neil Hudgell in my new role.
“Whenever we have gone over there to play, it is clear Rovers have a fanatical supporter base. I think it is vital that you have a hard core of good people who want the club to succeed to be able to build and plan for development in the future.
“Now that I have the next chapter of my career finalised, I am fully focused on finishing my time with Leeds as strongly as possible and leaving my home town club in the best possible position.”
A winner of multiple Grand Final, Challenge Cup and World Club Challenge matches throughout his career, Peacock is a former England and Great Britain captain who was crowned Man of Steel in 2003 and awarded his MBE three years ago for his services to the sport.
Hull KR chairman Neil Hudgell added: “We are delighted to have secured Jamie to the full-time position of Football Manager for the next two years.
“He is a proven champion at the highest level in our sport and we look forward to working with him, drawing on his experiences and contacts and generally raising the profile and performance of the club in key areas.
“I’m sure he will have a big role to play in helping to attract young English talent to Hull Kingston Rovers and in helping to develop a winning culture on and off the field.”
Meanwhile, Leeds Rhinos Chief Executive Gary Hetherington added: “I think this is an inspired appointment by Hull KR and I know Jamie will be very good at what will be a very different challenge.
“He has been at the heart of all our success over the past decade and his performances and influence at the club cannot be overestimated. He will leave a lasting legacy and all our best wishes will be with him when he swaps his training kit for a new suit at the end of the season.”
