Gareth Ellis joins York Knights as assistant coach for 2027
Gareth Ellis will join York Knights as assistant head coach for the 2027 season.
He will work under head coach Mark Applegarth. York confirmed the appointment on 30 September. York RLFC
It is a reunion. Ellis and Applegarth played alongside each other at Wakefield Trinity. BBC Sport Applegarth now leads York, and Ellis will serve as his deputy on the training field and on match days.
Ellis brings a long playing record with him. He represented Wakefield, Leeds Rhinos, Wests Tigers and Hull FC during his career. BBC Sport That journey took him from the northern heartlands to Australia’s NRL, the top professional league on that side of the world, and back again.
Rugby league runs on small squads and quick turnarounds. Players tackle, carry and get up again, with only six tackles to make ground before the ball changes hands. Coaches who have lived that rhythm tend to understand fatigue and field position from the inside.
After he stopped playing, Ellis stayed in the game off the field. He was director of rugby and wellbeing at Hull FC, a role covering recruitment, team culture and support for players’ welfare, before taking the York job. BBC Sport He knows the grind.
York needed that kind of experience. The club had just completed its first season in Super League, rugby league’s top flight in Britain and France, when the move was announced. The Yorkshire Post Life at that level is relentless. Every week brings full-time opponents, faster defensive lines and little room for error.
For fans, this means a trusted lieutenant beside the head coach. Ellis has seen promotion battles, title races and tough away nights as a player and as a staff member. That background should help York manage a long season and keep standards steady when momentum swings.
