Former Ulster hooker to take up development role with province after retiring from playing

Belfast Telegraph

29-05-2025

The 34-year-old brings down the curtain on his 14-year professional career that saw him play three seasons for his home province before moving to Worcester Warriors in 2014, for whom he made over 100 appearances, and then finish his career at Bath, as well as making one appearance for the Barbarians.
Annett retires off the back of winning the Challenge Cup with Bath last week, coming off the bench as a substitute in their victory over Lyon in the Final, and could yet end the year by doing the double, with Johan van Graan's side guaranteed top seeding in the Premiership Play-Offs, which begin next weekend.
As well as playing while in England, the former Methodist College student also progressed in his coaching ambitions by achieving his England Rugby Advanced Coaching Award in 2021, paving the way for him to take up his new role with Ulster.
Annett delivered an emotional retirement post on X, and commented on returning to the province where it all started: 'We as a family are very excited to be coming back home to Belfast and starting a new chapter with Ulster Rugby.
'I've had some brilliant playing experiences and been part of some great clubs in my playing career and I'm now eager to apply that knowledge into coaching and challenge myself.
"I'm excited to work alongside all the quality existing coaches and players and help develop talent throughout Ulster Rugby.'
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Annett will be joined in the role by Jonathon Graham, who has been promoted to the same position having previously been a provincial pathway coach with Ulster in which he pioneered the Talent ID programme within the province.
'I'm really excited to get stuck into this new role. Having been involved in the pathway for a number of years, I can see the talent coming through and my goal is to help prepare these players for senior rugby as much as possible,' commented Graham, who also coaches the Ulster Schools side.
'It's always a great source of pride to see players who come through the pathway play for the senior side and we want to develop the next generation of Ulster players.'
Ulster's general manager Bryn Cunningham added: 'We are delighted that Niall and Jonny have taken up the opportunity to become our EDPOs. These roles are key in our strategy for the next few years, and we want to help deliver top-class coaching to our young forwards.
'It's great to welcome Niall back home, particularly as he brings significant set-piece expertise around the scrum and lineout, having been at the coalface for so many years in several high-performance environments.
'Jonny has been doing great work at Ulster Rugby over the past number of years, specifically within our age-grade coaching department and talent ID programme.
"Both are ambitious coaches, with a real passion for nurturing talent and we look forward to seeing them both play a big part in developing the players of the future.'