Coaching changes at Cowboys,
Raiders

Former head coach Grant Bell has been appointed assistant coach of the North Queensland Cowboys.

Bell takes over from Kelly Egan who has moved to the football manager's role at the Cowboys, last season's National Rugby League runners up. The vastly experienced Bell, the inaugural Cowboys coach, last season coached the North Queensland Young Guns to the Queensland Cup title.

Meanwhile, Canberra Raiders assistant coach Terry Matterson is to take up a new job as head coach of English Super League club Castleford Tigers.

Matterson will start his two year term within the next month and says he's grateful the Raiders have released him from his contract for the 2006 NRL season. It will be the former Brisbane Broncos forward's second stint in England as he captained the London Broncos in the late 1990s.

Matterson, who played more than 240 first-grade matches for the two Broncos clubs, was a member of the Brisbane Broncos grand final-winning teams in 1992 and 1993.