The Melbourne Rebels have announced that former England lock Geoff Parling will be part of their backroom staff as a lineout coach in 2019.
Parling joined the club as a player this season but always intended on joining the coaching ranks when the time came to hang the boots up.
The former British and Irish Lion’s coaching career begins now as Rebels boss Dave Wessels’ lineout man and he will be part of the Rebels coaching staff alongside another former player, ex-Rebels and Wallabies prop Nic Henderson, who will step up to coach at the Super Rugby level for the first time as the club’s newly appointed scrum consultant.
“Both of Nic (Henderson) and Geoff (Parling) have been around the Club for a while now and they understand the high standards we have set for ourselves.”
Dave Wessels is excited by the new additions to his coaching team for 2019. Read more here: https://t.co/whYep4VqAV pic.twitter.com/EToMPyrGI3
— Melbourne Rebels (@MelbourneRebels) November 14, 2018
Wessels is excited by the prospect of working with the two former players.
“I’ve been fortunate to have worked with most of this coaching group for a few seasons now and in that time we’ve built up a really good working rapport and honest relationship,” he said.
“Our goal is to build a world-class rugby program. To do that we need committed, knowledgeable staff who are prepared to work as hard as we expect the players to.
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“Both Nic (Henderson) and Geoff (Parling) have played Rugby at the highest level and will add greater specialisation to our coaching group to help us best support our players to become the best version of themselves.
“Nic has done such a great job developing himself as a coach in recent years and he has a great connection with his students.
“Geoff is newer to coaching, but he has the maturity and smarts to provide technical insight as well as the experience of winning cultures.”