T'Other Side: Halifax Panthers

  

Head Coach: Kyle Eastmond

Liam Finn was the Halifax coach last season but he left at the end of the year to take on the role of assistant coach at Huddersfield Giants. Halifax have appointed Kyle Eastmond as head coach for 2025. It is his first appointment as a head coach.

As a player, Eastmond made his début with St. Helens in 2007. At the end of the 2011 season he joined Bath rugby union. After playing for Bath for 5 years he joined Wasps and then, two years later he was signed for Leicester Tigers.

In 2021 he made the briefest of returns to rugby league, joining Leeds Rhinos but after playing just two games he retired.

He is a dual code international having played for England in both league and union.

 

Co-Captains: Adam O’Brien

 

Joe Keyes and Adam O’Brien were Halifax co-captains in 2024 but, in 2025, Joe Keyes is now playing for Bradford Bulls and Adam O’Brien is the sole captain.

His first club was Bradford Bulls and made his début in 2011. In 2017 he moved to Huddersfield Giants and had a loan spell with Halifax. He had a second loan spell with Halifax in 2023 and then signed for them in 2024.

 

Dual Registration

 

In 2025, Halifax have a dual registration agreement with St. Helens and, so far, three St. Helens players have appeared for Halifax: Owen Dagnall (centre), Konrad Hurrell (centre) and George Whitby (halfback)

 

The Fev Connection 

Amongst the 83 players we know of who have played for both clubs are Francis Jarvis, Danny Seal and Greg Worthington.

Francis Jarvis (forward) started with Bradford Northern in 1973 and gained a John Player No.6 Trophy winners medal  during the 1974-75 season when they beat Widnes 3-2 in the final.

In 1978 he transferred to Fev and played 36 games and scored 6 tries. He played, at various times, in all the different pack positions. He joined Hunslet for the 1981-82 season and then finished with one season (1982-83) at Halifax making 25 appearances and scoring 1 try.

In 1974 he played twice for the ‘Other Nationalities’ team against Yorkshire and Lancashire.

 

Danny Seal (loose forward and hooker) played for Halifax from 1996-1999 making 26 appearances and scored 3 tries. In 2000 he signed for Keighley and then transferred to Fev in May 2001. He played 68 games for Fev and scored 31 tries, including a hat trick against Hunslet in 2002. His final season was at York City Knights in 2004.

 

Greg Worthington (centre) was signed by Fev from Huddersfield Giants in 2011 but had never played in the first team at the Giants. He played for Rovers until the end of the 2014 season. He moved to Leigh Centurions in 2015 and then in 2017 he joined the Toronto Wolfpack. In 2020 he returned (on loan) to Fev but the season was quickly aborted because of the Covid pandemic. In total, for Fev, he played 107 times and scored 61 tries.

He scored four hat tricks for Fev including 4 tries against Swinton in 2020.

In 2020 he also played 1 game on loan at Halifax and then became a Halifax player for 2021 and 2022 making a total (including the one in 2020) of 44 appearances but only scored 1 try. His final two years were spent playing for Barrow where he played mostly as a loose forward.