KEIGHLEY COUGARS are in a bit of a pickle as things stand.
The West Yorkshire club currently sits in 11th in the Championship table, just one point ahead of Barrow Raiders in the relegation zone.
Following the dismissal of head coach Rhys Lovegrove earlier in the season, Jy-mel Coleman took the reins on an interim basis.
But, the Cougars have now announced veteran Keighley man Matt Foster as their new head coach with immediate effect.
Foster spent 11 of his 13 professional seasons at Cougars and was a consistent force for the club as a centre/full back and now returns in a coaching capacity.
He has spent the last 10 years as coach at Burleigh Bears and in his time there has worked with the Queensland Cup First Team and A Grade securing 6 Grand Final appearances with 3 wins for the latter.
Speaking of his desire to return to Keighley, Foster said: “This all happened within 36 hours or so. I’ve been following Keighley this season from the Gold Coast and when the phone call came through last week it was a fairly quick and easy decision for me to make.”
“I am looking forward to meeting the players and understanding their strengths and weaknesses as well as reintroducing myself to the fans. I left in 2007 and I still see the hardened followers on social media and I am just looking forward to getting my hands dirty and getting straight in with the boys to create a positive end to the season.”
“The opportunity to coach at Keighley is something I dreamed of 15 years ago when I left to Australia. These opportunities don’t come around very often and I am happy to be on board with the team.”
Keighley’s CEO Ryan O’Neill said: “Firstly I just want to thank Jy-mel for stepping in to cover the interim head coach role. Jy-mel has handled himself professionally and in the toughest of circumstances has done the job we asked him to do and for that the club will be ever grateful.
“Our search for a permanent head coach has come to a conclusion and I look forward to welcoming Matt back to Cougar Park.”
