Jim Reynolds
Chairman of the Board, RLI
April 20th, 2022
It is with great pleasure that I announce on behalf of the Board of RLI, the appointment of Simon Vardy as Performance and S&C Coach to the Ireland Senior Men’s Squad.
Simon has been Head of our Performance Pathway Programme (PPP) since during COVID lockdown last year providing our youth, Women’s, and Clubs XIII squads with online programmes, performance benchmarking, and personal one-on-one guidance – Simon will continue in that successful role to ensure consistency from World Cup to grassroots.
Simon Vardy is Head of Performance and S&C for Sheffield Eagles RL Club and also is Performance Sport Development Officer at Sheffield University, where he has coached Team GB Olympic athletes. Simon’s many qualifications include a BA from Sheffield and full certification from NASM, NSCA, CIMSPA (Level 4), and is a member of UKSCA. Simon will be with our Men’s World Cup Squad in camp and throughout the tournament in England.
“It has been a great privilege to be involved with RLI so far and now to work with the Senior Squad for the World Cup is an incredible opportunity for me. I’m very excited for the chance to not just help make the upcoming World Cup the most successful one for Ireland, but also play a part in supporting the bigger picture and future development plans for Rugby League in Ireland”
“It has been quite clear to me that the drive and determination of RLI from the Chairman Jim, the board, through to all the coaches at every level is immense. There is a desire and clear vision for growth and development well beyond the World Cup which is a fantastic and exciting thing to be involved in.”
“I have worked closely with the Ireland Men’s Head Coach, Ged Corcoran, for many years now at the Sheffield Eagles and find his vision and passion to take Ireland to new levels totally infectious. I’m looking forward to helping support him and the squad alongside Joe O’Callaghan who, without a shadow of a doubt, is an immense acquisition to the Ireland Coaching Team and is already bringing so much knowledge and experience to his role.
I am incredibly excited for this opportunity and for the future development of all levels of the game in Ireland.”