CARL FORSTER APPOINTED ASSISTANT COACH

Bradford Bulls are delighted to announce the appointment of Carl Forster as one of the club’s two full-time Assistant coaches for our return to Super League in 2026. 

The 33-year-old enjoyed a playing career spanning 13 years, having come through the Academy at St Helens before later joining Salford.

Forster’s coaching career began at Whitehaven in 2017 whilst still playing, winning 59 out of 71 matches with the Cumbrian outfit. A stint as player-coach at Rochdale Hornets followed before a move to Barrow Raiders.

North Wales Crusaders proved to be his final destination before hanging up his boots to take on the head coach role full-time, where his burgeoning reputation within the sport grew further.

The 2025 season saw the Welsh outfit dominate Betfred League One, confirming their status as Champions in August. 

Carl Forster said: 

“It is a dream job of mine to be assisting in Super League, it’s something I aspired to achieve when I have been coaching semi-professional after work. When I got the phone call off Kurt [Haggerty] it was a pinch me moment, I am really excited to get going. 

“You can see the potential that is there to go again at the Bulls, just from walking around the training ground you can see its Super League standard. You see things on social media and see how the club is building, you see the fanbase is there it is really exciting to be a small part of it.

“I know the brand of rugby Kurt likes to play, we both came through at St Helens as juniors and the brand of rugby we played at Crusaders was something that attracted him to me.

“It is now about fulfilling the potential of the players and bringing a really attractive brand of rugby, results are a key focus but we want to be a team that the fans are excited to watch, it’s about playing a really entertaining brand and that’s what I’ll be promoting.   

“I’ll be doing lots of work with the forwards, Kurt has given myself and Lee our specific tasks but ultimately we are a three man team and we have to give Kurt all the tools he needs to succeed. That is our job as assistant coaches, ultimately we want the Bradford Bulls to be successful and it’s our job to make that happen.” 

Bradford Bulls Head Coach Kurt Haggerty said: 

“Carl’s actually been coaching for a long time, even though he's a young man he's been coaching a long time and he's held in very high regard. “He's done a fantastic job in North Wales, I know he's coached previously at teams like Whitehaven and Rochdale so he's worked in the lower leagues and really earned his reputation through the style of rugby that he plays. 

“In particular, I wanted a forwards coach and a backs coach so Carl fitted that narrative really, really well for the forwards coach. He's got a high rugby IQ and I like the way that his previous teams have played and he will fit the mould for how I want my forwards to play.”