Western Force have appointed former New Zealand U20s and Canterbury assistant Craig Dunlea as forwards coach for 2026, completing Simon Cron’s staff alongside James Stannard (skills) and Brad Harris (defence). Pre-season starts next month.

Dunlea comes off four seasons as Canterbury’s NPC assistant focused on scrum and contact. Canterbury is currently top of the NPC. He’s also been New Zealand U20s assistant at the past two Junior World Championships, with the Baby Blacks finishing runners-up this year. His background includes roles within the Crusaders program and a playing career with Otago, Exeter, Llanelli Scarlets and Edinburgh. He spent seven years with Mid-Canterbury, winning the Meads Cup twice and the Lochore Cup once.

Cron said: “It’s great to get Craig on board, the feedback from players and staff that have worked with him is he’s very detailed which is important for us.

"We’ve got a lot of young, developing props and we want to provide them with as much opportunity to develop as possible.

“He has cut his teeth working for four years in the NPC with Canterbury and two years with the New Zealand U20s.

“He’s a really good operator at lineout time and he’ll work well with our key lineout leaders and continue on from Sas (Tom Donnelly) with the development there.”

Dunlea, who will head to Perth later this month once Canterbury’s NPC finals run concludes, said: “I’m really excited about the opportunity. In the conversations I had with Crono and Goody, I can feel their enthusiasm about the franchise and where it’s going. From afar, you can see the positive trajectory the squad is going and now it’s about taking that to the next level.

“I’m looking forward to the challenge of Super Rugby and to working with the players and staff to keep building on the strong foundations already in place and drive the Force to new heights.”.

“My coaching philosophy is built around the love and enjoyment of rugby, along with a focus on hard work and the technical side of set-piece and installing domination among our forwards.

“On a personal side, I’ve never been to Perth but have only heard good things about the city, so I cannot wait to get over there and get into it.”