The Western Force is rapt to confirm the appointment of former New Zealand U20s and Canterbury assistant coach Craig Dunlea as the Club’s new forwards coach.
The former prop will complete the Force’s 2026 Super Rugby Pacific coaching ranks led by head coach Simon Cron alongside James Stannard (assistant coach - skills) and Brad Harris (defence coach) ahead of 2026 pre-season resuming early next month.
Dunlea will join the Force after spending the past four seasons as Canterbury’s NPC assistant coach, specifically as a forwards scrum and ball-into-contact coach. Canterbury is currently top of the NPC.
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He’s also worked as New Zealand U20s assistant coach at the past two Junior World Championships, serving as a scrum specialist. The Baby Blacks were runners-up at this year’s event.
Dunlea has been involved in a variety of coaching roles with the successful Crusaders program.
The 49-year-old enjoyed a successful professional playing career with Otago in New Zealand plus Exeter, Llanelli Scarlets and Edinburgh in the UK. He transitioned into coaching at the back-end of his playing career, including roles at Rakaia Seniors, Llanelli Scarlets and Exmouth RFC.
In 2012, he joined the Mid-Canterbury Heartland team in his first major role, spending seven years there and enjoying success, 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’ll head to Perth later this month once his NPC finals commitments with Canterbury conclude, was looking forward to the chance to help take the Force to the next level.
Dunlea 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.”
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Craig Dunlea
Coaching experience
2024-2025 – New Zealand U20 assistant coach
2022-2025 – Canterbury NPC assistant coach
2022 – Crusaders U20 forwards coach, Crusaders Academy forwards coach
2021 - Crusaders B forwards coach, Canterbury NPC scrum coach
2020 – Junior Crusaders forwards coach
2019-2020 - Lincoln University assistant coach
2012-2017 – Mid-Canterbury Heartland co-coach, assistant coach, set piece coach
