Andy Last (born 25 March 1981) is an English professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

coach who is the assistant coach for the

England national rugby league team The England national rugby league team represents England in international rugby league. The team, largely formed from the Great Britain team which also represented Wales and Scotland, is run under the auspices of the Rugby Football League. ...

and a former professional rugby league footballer. He is a former head coach of

Hull FC Hull Football Club, commonly referred to as Hull or Hull F.C., is a professional rugby league football club established in 1865 and based in West Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The club plays in the Super League competition and wer ...

and the

Castleford Tigers The Castleford Tigers are a professional rugby league club in Castleford, West Yorkshire, England, that compete in the Super League, the top-level professional rugby league club competition in the Northern Hemisphere. The club have competed i ...

in the

Super League The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of wh ...

. He played as a for

in the

between 1999 and 2005.

Background

Last was born in

Kingston upon Hull Kingston upon Hull, usually abbreviated to Hull, is a port city and unitary authority in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It lies upon the River Hull at its confluence with the Humber Estuary, inland from the North Sea and south-east ...

, Humberside, England.

Playing career

On 1 August 1999, Last made his

debut for

against the

Warrington Wolves The Warrington Wolves are a professional rugby league club based in Warrington, England, that competes in the Super League. They play rugby at the Halliwell Jones Stadium, having moved there from Wilderspool in 2004. Founded as Warrington Z ...

. The return of Lee Jackson to Hull in 2001 saw Last playing mainly for the A-team, before he suffered a broken tibia and fibula to end his career prematurely. He made a total of 29 appearances and scored 4 tries, with his final appearance made at the age of 24.

Coaching career

Hull F.C.

Last joined the coaching staff of

. In 2005, he led the club's under-21s side to Academy Grand Final victory. He worked as an assistant coach for the first team under

Lee Radford Lee Radford (born 26 March 1979) is an English professional rugby league coach for the Castleford Tigers. He previously worked in rugby league as the head coach of Hull F.C., in the Super League, from 2013–2020. He is also a former profession ...

, winning back-to-back Challenge Cups in

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

and

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

. On 12 March 2020, Last was announced as Hull's interim head coach following Radford's dismissal, with

Kieron Purtill Kieron Purtill was most recently the head coach of the Widnes Vikings in the Betfred Championship before resigning in October 2019 after signing a 1 year contract extension only two months prior. He is the former head coach of both the Canada n ...

being his assistant. Four days later, the season was suspended due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, and Last would only coach his first game in August. He guided Hull to a 6th-placed finish and reached the play-off semi-finals. In November 2020, Hull appointed

Brett Hodgson Brett Hodgson (born 12 February 1978) is an Australian rugby league coach and former professional player during the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s. A New South Wales State of Origin representative goal-kicking , he played his club football in the NRL ...

as their new head coach, with Last offered an alternative position.

Wakefield Trinity (assistant)

On 21 December 2020,

Wakefield Trinity Wakefield Trinity is a professional rugby league club in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, that plays in the Super League. One of the original twenty-two clubs that formed the Northern Rugby Football Union in 1895, between 1999 and 2016 the c ...

appointed Last as an assistant coach, to work alongside Chris Chester and

Willie Poching Willie Poching is a New Zealand professional rugby league football coach and former player. He is the former head-coach of Wakefield Trinity in the Super League. When he was appointed head coach of Wakefield, he became the first Samoan head coa ...

. Last said he opted for this role to "spread iswings and gain some different experiences", rather than remaining at Hull in a role "tailored to his skill-set" according to chairman Adam Pearson.

Castleford Tigers

On 29 September 2021, the

announced the appointment of Last as assistant coach following the arrival of

as head coach. On 6 March 2023, Last was appointed interim head coach of Castleford when Radford was relieved of his duties. He took charge of six fixtures while the club held talks with candidates in their selection process. On 19 April 2023, he was named as full-time head coach on a two-and-a-half-year deal. On 4 August 2023, immediately following a defeat against

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confluence into ...

that left the Tigers at the bottom of the

table for the first time, Last departed Castleford.

England (assistant)

In April 2020, while interim head coach of

, Last joined the coaching staff for the

in the build up towards the

2021 Rugby League World Cup The 2021 Rugby League World Cup (RLWC2021) was a collection of world cups in the sport of rugby league, held in England from 15 October to 19 November 2022. England won hosting rights for the competition on 27 October 2016. The bid received £2 ...

. He continues to work with England alongside

Shaun Wane Shaun David Wane (born 14 September 1964) is an English professional rugby league coach who is the head coach for the England national rugby league team and former professional rugby league footballer He is a former head coach of the Wigan War ...

References

External links

Castleford Tigers profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Last, Andy 1981 births Living people Castleford Tigers coaches English rugby league players Rugby league hookers Hull F.C. coaches Hull F.C. players Rugby league players from Kingston upon Hull