New Trailfinders Rugby Academy Coaches

Trailfinders Rugby Academy is thrilled to announce the arrival of three new coaches for the 2024/25 season.

Alex Stajka, Craig Newby and Marlen Walker have been brought in as Assistant Academy Coaches, specialising in attack, defence and forwards respectively.

With their impressive track records in professional rugby, both as players and coaches, we are confident that Alex, Craig and Marlen will bring our team a new level of expertise and success.

Stajka has held skills coach roles with the Western Force Academy and Australia U20 sides before taking on the attacks and skills coach role with the Western Force Senior Elite Academy. He has recently been the Head Coach at Perth Gold and the University of Western Australia.

All Black Newby, who won three caps for his country, was a product of Rotorua Boys’ High School. He went on to play over 60 times for the Highlanders and also won the 2001 World Cup and 2002 Commonwealth Games with the New Zealand 7s side. He also had a highly successful four-year stint at Leicester Tigers.

Following his playing career, he has most recently been working as a Skills Coach for Ulster since 2021. He has also held roles as a Forwards and Defence Coach at NEC in Japan, Academy Forwards and Defence Coach at Wasps, and Head of Rugby at St John’s, Leatherhead.

Walker came through the ranks at Auckland Blues and played for New Zealand Schools side before stints in Australia and Germany as a player. The Kiwi front row amassed 184 appearances for Cornish Pirates over nine years in Cornwall. He has also coached at Truro School and in the Exeter Chiefs DPP.

For interested players, scholarships and bursaries are still available for the 2024/25 season. Please contact academy@etprm.com for more information.