Dave Banks

Currently the assistant coach of the World Champion England Wheelchair Rugby League team, Dave supports his teaching with Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy. A Psychology graduate alongside a Masters in Elite Performance, gained from UCLan, enables him to develop a broader understanding of what it takes to perform at the highest level.

Dave supports his role with practical application of coaching and performance analysis with a detailed understanding of the technical requirements of both disciplines.

One of the first performance analysts to work in professional Rugby League, Dave enjoyed a 20 season career working with Super League and international teams. His career started as a coach on the highly acclaimed scholarship and academy programmes at Wigan Warriors, whilst gaining representative coaching experience on the RFL’s world class performance programmes of the early 2000s.

Dave took up the role of Wigan’s first ever performance analyst in 2001 at a time when the use of analysis in Rugby League was in its infancy. A move to Widnes as Academy Head Coach in 2006 also saw him provide performance analysis for the first team squad. A promotion to first team assistant coach when Widnes entered Super League in 2012 appeared to be the pinnacle, however working as an analyst with Papua New Guinea in the 2013 World Cup and the Australian Kangaroos in the 2016 Four Nations preceded a return to Wigan Warriors as Head of Performance Analysis in 2017. A three-year stint at the Warriors coincided with a Challenge Cup final appearance in 2017 and Grand Final success in 2018.

Success as a key member of the world cup winning England Wheelchair team has provided a greater insight into diverse requirements of athletes at all levels.