St.Helens R.F.C. is thrilled to confirm England Men’s Assistant Coach Lee Briers will join our First Team Coaching Staff on a two-year contract ahead of the 2025 rugby league season.
It is a homecoming for the highly sought-after coach, a native of St Helens, who comes back to the UK following two seasons with NRL side Brisbane Broncos. It also marks a return to the club where his professional rugby league journey began.
Briers came through the Saints Academy ranks and debuted in a victorious Challenge Cup fixture in February 1997 against Hull. The then 18-year-old Briers showcased his playing talent, most notably in a Challenge Cup semi-final to book St.Helens’ spot at Wembley, where our team would go on to lift the famous old trophy.
Lee was limited to only six match appearances for the Red V before transferring to Warrington in April 1997 for more regular playing time. During his time at Warrington, Lee racked up an astonishing 425 appearances for the Wolves, becoming their all-time leading points scorer with 2,586 points recorded.
Following his retirement in 2013, Briers began working as a youth coach with Warrington, before becoming First Team Assistant Coach in 2018, a role he would hold until late 2021. His next move saw him join the Wigan Warriors and he was part of their coaching team which won the 2022 Challenge Cup before flying out to Brisbane.
In his first season Down Under, Assistant Coach Briers played his part in getting the Broncos to the 2023 NRL Grand Final. That same autumn he was named England Men’s Assistant Coach, and the national side earned a victorious series whitewash over Tonga.
Chairman of St.Helens R.F.C. Eamonn McManus welcomed Lee Briers back to the Club and said: “Lee will undoubtedly constitute a key component in strengthening our coaching team and set up for next season and beyond.
“We are confident that he will add a new and important dimension to our coaching team and that we will benefit in particular from his most recent experience in the NRL at the Brisbane Broncos.
“Lee is now back in the St.Helens family after a 27-year absence and I am sure that he will be warmly received by his coaching colleagues, players, and fans alike.”
First Team Head Coach Paul Wellens commented: “Despite being away from the Club for a long time, he has never thought of himself as anything other than being a St Helens lad. It’s great to welcome him back and he’s going to add knowledge, experience, enthusiasm, and a passion for the team and the Club to our coaching team.
“Funnily enough I was in the Academy as a young kid and one of my first games was playing alongside Lee as my half-back partner. It’s pretty cool that almost 25+ years later we get to team up again.
“I’ve had a number of conversations with him, and I can’t understate how excited and happy Lee is to get the opportunity to come and work for this club again. As a St Helens boy myself, your path can go in a different direction, but in some respects, there is a light that never goes out, and I think that’s certainly been the case.”
Discussing joining St.Helens Coaching Staff, Lee Briers told saintsrlfc.com: “It’s pretty emotional, I’ve got goosebumps and now it’s getting confirmed the hairs on my arms are standing up, I’m genuinely so excited! In sport you can be a professional, you can give your all for different clubs and you can have great relationships and bonds – but there is nothing like playing or coaching for your hometown club.
“Me and my family never left the town and for 27 or so years I’ve had to put up with being seen as kind of like the enemy, but now it’s just a surreal moment for me and my family – I can’t wait.”
“My conversations with Wello [Paul Wellens] have been everything I thought they would be, in what is a fabulous leader. I’m so excited to work under him, learn from him, and add my bit to make the team where the team should be.”
The Saints 2024 season has seen a number of our senior First Team men missing out due to injury, however, a number of our young Academy graduates have been cutting their teeth and gaining important match experience in the Super League. Briers is excited to work with our more experienced players and help shape the next generation of talent too.
“To me, St.Helens’ identity has always been Saints are ‘The Entertainers’ and there’s a bit of work to do. Paul will direct me on what I need to do and what he feels is right to do, I will also have bring my ideas and we will come up with a plan where we will have St.Helens being ‘The Entertainers’ with the likes of the players we will have.
“I’m looking forward to working with the young players, they’ve been thrown in at the deep end through nobody’s fault, but next year those guys are players we know can come in and we can trust. Hopefully, I can add along to their journey.”
Briers knows the level of expectation at St.Helens, and his goal is to achieve silverware.
“My job as a coach is to make sure that the process, every single day that I’m challenging every player, and that they are challenging me. We are all in it together to reach that end goal. We’ll be making sure that we’re doing everything right on a daily basis, having fun along the way, and connecting with everybody again. Connecting the Club to the town, to the fans even more, we are all on that journey.”
