Harlen back at Tigers

NEW COACH PRIMED

FORMER NRL player Luke Harlen will take the reins at Centrals Tigers in a Townsville homecoming decades in the making.

The 38-year-old won an Agrade premiership with Centrals as a player in 2002 before embarking on a rugby league adventure that saw him play 10 games in the front row for the Sharks and Cowboys between 2006 and 2010.

Since retiring from football, Harlen has cut his teeth coaching in the Brisbane Rugby League and then as an assistant with Brisbane Tigers in the club’s junior ranks.

A job opportunity for his wife Stephanie has brought their family home to Townsville, creating an opening for Harlen to give back to the club where his journey first began.

“My wife and our families are all from up here so we had been talking about coming back for the last few years, when my wife got a job opportunity at the Mater Hospital,” Harlen said.

“I played all my junior footy at Centrals so when the job opportunity came up (at the Tigers) I spoke to K-mart (Kevin Marty, club president) and it all worked out.”

Harlen will coach Centrals in A grade and has linked with the Blackhawks under-16s, where he will help coach the representative side in the statewide Cyril Connell Cup.

Harlen has inherited a Centrals side that missed out on finals by a single competition point in 2022, with strong reinforcements on the way as a champion under-19 side graduates into the senior ranks.

Before he gets to work on improving the Tigers on the field the new coach pledged to bring the side together off the field first.

“A lot of my coaching philosophy is just looking after the players off the field, creating the right environment for them to actually want to come to training,” he said.

“All the technical stuff and skills can come after creating that environment for the guys.

“To figure out how we’re going to play, I have a style in my head that once I meet everyone I’ll be able to narrow that down.”

Departing head coach Scott ‘Scooter’ Griffin will continue to be involved in the A-grade set-up as an assistant when his work commitments allow.

Griffin expressed his excitement for what Harlen would bring to a team he believes is on the cusp of greatness.

“I’m 100 per cent positive he’ll take the reins and direct the club, particularly A grade, into a better position,” Griffin declared.

“His knowledge and experience at the higher levels will be great to instil into some of the juniors coming through and even some of our A-grade team, who weren’t even 21 years old last year.

“There’s still some growth in last year’s A-grade team.”

Harlen plans to announce a major recruit to the Tigers spine soon.