Stuart DONLAN [
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Fri February 24, 2012
Acting Castleford Tigers head coach Stuart Donlan is grateful for the assistance of Huddersfield Giants boss Nathan Brown as he prepares to take charge of his first Stobart Super League match.
The 31-year-old Donlan has been thrust into the top job at the Tigers with head coach Ian Millward on compassionate leave following the sudden death of his 19-year-old son Robbie last Sunday.
Donlan followed Millward from Leigh Centurions to Castleford in the close season after retiring as a player to take on his first coaching role as his assistant and admits he is facing a tough baptism against Wigan Warriors at the Probiz Coliseum on Sunday.
"Three months into my apprenticeship and I'm being thrown in at the deep end," Donlan said. "Sometimes that's the best way to learn.
"The conditioning and medical staff here have been brilliant and I spoke to Nathan Brown on Tuesday and he offered me his help.
"Obviously Huddersfield beat Wigan in round one and I'd like to put on record my thanks to Nathan for the bit of advice he has given me and his offer to ring him if I needed any more help."
Donlan admits the Castleford players were in a state of shock after learning of the death of Robbie Millward from a heart attack while they were preparing to return from France following last Saturday's match against Catalan Dragons.
Donlan, who knew Robbie personally since he came to this country with his father in 1999, said: "It's hit everybody, none more so than Ian.
"Ian is the main concern. His family are flying in from Australia and I think that will be a great help to him.
"They're arriving daily from around the world to support him. He just needs time to come to terms with the tragedy.
"Tuesday was a little bit sombre but the good thing about sport is that you've got a focus and, come Sunday, our focus will be Wigan.
"It's been a very very tough week but we're getting towards the serious end now and it's a matter of getting the players to focus on the job in hand. I think we're finally getting our heads around Sunday."
A minute of applause and cheers will be held before kick-off on Sunday to remember Robbie at the request of Ian Millward and his family but Donlan says he has had no contact from his boss this week.
"The best thing we can do is give Ian space and time to grieve for Robbie," he added.
"When he's ready, he'll speak to us and when he's ready to come back into work we'll welcome him back.
"At is stands at the minute, we'll just get on the with the job and try to make his return as easy as possible.
"We've no idea when he'll return. I think it would be wrong if he did come back early. He needs time to come to terms with the tragedy. You can't imagine what it's like to lose your 19-year-old son."
Donlan, who has a degree in sports coaching, revealed Millward has already had an input into preparations for Sunday's game and that the team will be playing for their grieving head coach.
"We do plan a little bit ahead of ourselves and we had already touched on the structure we'd like to play against Wigan," said Donlan.
"Luckily in France on Sunday morning before we heard the news, we had discussed a few little things we were going to do against Wigan and, speaking to Nathan, confirmed what we had in mind.
"Everybody is mucking in. I said to the players on Tuesday in a meeting the best way they can help me is out on the training field and on Sunday put in a great performance for Ian.
"We can show Ian our support. We're looking at putting on a really good performance to show Ian that we're there for him."
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 2008 engage English Super League
Castleford Tigers
20 games; 8 tries, 1 goals, 34 points.
[View] Round 1 [09 Feb 08] L 14-21 v Les Catalans (H). [WG] 4 Pts; 1t
[View] Round 5 [07 Mar 08] W 38-20 v Leeds (H). [WG] 4 Pts; 1t
[View] Round 6 [15 Mar 08] L 4-20 v Hull KR (A). [WG]
[View] Round 11 [11 Apr 08] L 12-32 v Hull FC (H). [FB]
[View] Round 12 [26 Apr 08] L 30-38 v Les Catalans (A). [FB]
[View] Round 13 [03 May 08] L 16-54 v Wakefield. [WG]
[View] Round 14 [18 May 08] L 24-46 v Bradford (H). [FB] 2 Pts; 1g
[View] Round 15 [26 May 08] W 36-28 v Warrington (A). [FB] 4 Pts; 1t
[View] Round 16 [07 Jun 08] L 16-32 v Wakefield (H). [FB]
[View] Round 17 [15 Jun 08] L 14-40 v Hull FC (A). [FB]
[View] Round 18 [22 Jun 08] D 22-22 v Wigan (H). [WG]
[View] Round 19 [28 Jun 08] L 12-18 v Leeds (A). [FB]
[View] Round 20 [06 Jul 08] W 18-10 v Hull KR (H). [FB]
[View] Round 21 [11 Jul 08] L 12-68 v St Helens (A). [FB]
[View] Round 22 [20 Jul 08] W 66-12 v Harlequins (A). [FB] 4 Pts; 1t
[View] Round 23 [03 Aug 08] L 14-40 v Huddersfield (H). [FB]
[View] Round 24 [10 Aug 08] W 48-22 v Wakefield (A). [FB] 8 Pts; 2t
[View] Round 25 [15 Aug 08] L 12-54 v Leeds (A). [FB]
[View] Round 26 [24 Aug 08] W 44-24 v Warrington (H). [FB] 8 Pts; 2t
[View] Round 27 [06 Sep 08] L 16-18 v Bradford (H). [FB]
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2006 engage English Super League
Huddersfield Giants
22 games; 9 tries, 36 points.
[View] Round 6 [19 Mar 06] W 64-14 v Harlequins (H). [WG] 4 Pts; 1t
[View] Round 7 [26 Mar 06] W 36-22 v Castleford (A). [WG]
[View] Round 8 [07 Apr 06] L 18-36 v Salford City (A). [FB]
[View] Round 9 [14 Apr 06] L 18-26 v Hull FC (H). [BE]
[View] Round 11 [22 Apr 06] L 14-46 v Wigan (H). [FB]
[View] Round 12 [29 Apr 06] L 16-22 v Harlequins (A). [WG] 4 Pts; 1t
[View] Round 13 [06 May 06] W 19-16 v St Helens (H). [WG] 4 Pts; 1t
[View] Round 14 [14 May 06] W 32-18 v Salford City (H). [WG] 4 Pts; 1t
[View] Round 15 [28 May 06] L 6-19 v Hull FC (A). [WG]
[View] Round 16 [11 Jun 06] W 42-34 v Les Catalans (H). [WG]
[View] Round 17 [18 Jun 06] L 14-32 v Castleford (A). [WG] 8 Pts; 2t
[View] Round 18 [23 Jun 06] L 16-42 v Bradford (A). [WG]
[View] Round 19 [02 Jul 06] L 14-36 v Leeds (H). [WG]
[View] Round 20 [09 Jul 06] L 26-30 v Warrington (A). [WG]
[View] Round 21 [16 Jul 06] W 26-20 v Wakefield (H). [WG] 4 Pts; 1t
[View] Round 22 [23 Jul 06] W 34-10 v Castleford (H). [WG]
[View] Round 23 [04 Aug 06] L 8-56 v St Helens (A). [FB]
[View] Round 24 [13 Aug 06] L 12-26 v Hull FC (H). [WG]
[View] Round 25 [18 Aug 06] L 10-14 v Wigan (A). [FB]
[View] Round 26 [03 Sep 06] W 24-18 v Salford City (H). [WG]
[View] Round 27 [09 Sep 06] W 20-12 v Catalans (A). [WG] 4 Pts; 1t
[View] Round 28 [17 Sep 06] L 30-42 v Bradford (H). [WG] 4 Pts; 1t
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2005 English Super League
Huddersfield Giants
14 games; 4 tries, 16 points.
[View] Round 1 [12 Feb 05] W 30-12 v Leigh (A). [FB]
[View] Round 2 [20 Feb 05] L 28-36 v Hull (H). [WG] 4 Pts; 1t
[View] Round 3 [25 Feb 05] L 24-34 v St Helens (A). [FB]
[View] Round 4 [06 Mar 05] L 10-54 v Rhinos (H). [FB]
[View] Round 7 [25 Mar 05] W 42-20 v Wildcats (A). [FB]
[View] Round 13 [15 May 05] W 34-24 v London (H). [WG] 4 Pts; 1t
[View] Round 14 [20 May 05] W 26-24 v Wigan (A). [WG]
[View] Round 15 [29 May 05] L 12-40 v Widnes (A). [WG]
[View] Round 16 [07 Jun 05] L 22-24 v Warrington (H). [WG]
[View] Round 17 [11 Jun 05] L 20-38 v Bulls (H). [WG] 4 Pts; 1t
[View] Round 18 [19 Jun 05] W 40-22 v Wildcats (H). [WG]
[View] Round 19 [02 Jul 05] L 16-24 v Salford (A). [WG] 4 Pts; 1t
[View] Round 20 [10 Jul 05] W 32-22 v Leigh (H). [WG]
[View] Round 21 [16 Jul 05] L 24-34 v Hull (A). [WG]
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Donlan, Stuart
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