Warrington Wolves head of performance Jon Clarke will leave his position at the end of the season to take up a role with England Rugby.
Clarke enjoyed a playing career stretching from 1995 to 2014 and included 11 years at the Halliwell Jones Stadium between 2001 and 2011.
Prior to joining Warrington he played for both Wigan and London, and finished his career at Widnes Vikings, where he retired in 2014.
During his playing career he also represented Great Britain, lifted the Challenge Cup in 2010 and was part of the League Leaders Shield winning squad of 2011, both with Warrington.
Clarke took on the role of head of strength and conditioning at Widnes for a year before returning to Warrington on the performance side in 2015 under then coach Tony Smith.
Ahead of the 2018 campaign he was promoted to head of performance working alongside Steve Price this season.
Clarke said: "I’ve been involved at Warrington for over 13 years so it’s been a massive part of my life and I’ve loved every minute of it. I had some great times as a player – particularly towards the back end when we started winning trophies - as well as making some unbelievable friends within the team, club and town.
"After leaving for Widnes I then came back here as head of strength and conditioning before becoming head of performance. I’ve had the time of my life doing this job.
"We have been to three finals in my time on the performance side, unfortunately we’ve lost them all up to now but hopefully we can put that right in October. I’ve gone on to meet some lads I didn’t know before coming back, have worked under Tony Smith for two years and then under Pricey’s leadership and coaching which has undoubtedly been the best environment I’ve worked in to date.
"The club is very lucky to have Steve Price as head coach. He’s a phenomenal coach and the way he has handled this situation with me has been first class; I couldn’t hold him in any higher regard if I tried.
“I’ll be forever indebted to rugby league and Warrington Wolves. The experiences I’ve had as a player and coach here are what have got me to this job now at international level.
"This is where Warrington Wolves as a club needs to be praised. It is never good to lose good staff but as a club we are creating a platform for developing top-class practitioners in strength and conditioning, nutrition, physiotherapy and coaching which shouldn’t go unnoticed."
Warrington head coach Price has paid tribute to Clarke ahead of switching codes to rugby union.
He said: “Since day one when I arrived Jon and I have formed a strong bond. I’ve come across a fair few heads of performance in my time and he’s certainly one of the best in that field. He’s extremely hard working and understands the intricacies of what high performance looks like.
"He understands rugby league like no other and I’ve loved every minute of working with him. Jon’s an outstanding family man and on behalf of Warrington Wolves we wish him all the best."
