Ian Watson (rugby league)

Ian "Watto" Watson

Personal information
Full name	Ian Roger Watson [1]
Born	(1976-10-27) 27 October 1976 (age 48) Salford, Greater Manchester, England
Playing information
Position	Scrum-half, Hooker
Club Years Team Pld T G FG P 1994–97 Salford Reds 42 7 30 8 92 1996(loan) → Workington Town 5 1 15 0 34 1998–00 Swinton Lions 92 22 152 14 406 2001 Widnes Vikings 25 0 72 2 146 2002 Salford City Reds 23 2 0 1 9 2003 Rochdale Hornets 32 7 27 6 88 2004 Oldham 29 6 5 7 41 2005–06 Swinton Lions 36 7 8 0 44 2006 Widnes Vikings 16 0 1 0 2 2007 Halifax 30 3 9 1 31 2008–09 Leigh Centurions 52 13 62 4 180 2010–14 Swinton Lions 111 10 6 0 52 Total 493 78 387 43 1125 Representative Years Team Pld T G FG P 1995–11 Wales 30 7 1 0 30
Coaching information
Club Years Team Gms W D L W% 2014 Swinton Lions 18 5 0 13 28 2015–20 Salford Red Devils 164 80 0 84 49 2021–24 Huddersfield Giants 90 43 1 36 48 Total 272 128 1 133 47
Source: [2] [3] [4] As of 9 January 2023

Ian Watson (born 27 October 1976) is a professional rugby league coach, and a former Wales international who played as a scrum-half or hooker in the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s.

He played for the Salford City Reds, Workington Town, Swinton Lions, Widnes Vikings, Rochdale Hornets, Oldham, Halifax and the Leigh Centurions. Watson was a goal-kicker who holds the appearance record for Wales with 30 caps. ^{[2] [3] [4]}

Watson has coached the Swinton Lions in the Championship and the Salford Red Devils and Huddersfield Giants in the Super League. He is considered one of the best British coaches in the game after taking unfancied Salford and Huddersfield to Finals.

Background

Watson was born in Salford, Greater Manchester, England.

Playing career

Watson started his professional career with the Salford Reds coming though from local amateur team Eccles RLFC.

In July 1996, he joined Workington Town on loan, ^[5] where he played in the Super League for the first time.

He returned to the Salford Reds for the 1997's Super League II, making 27 appearances for the club. ^[6]

Following the signings of Martin Crompton and Josh White, despite being a firm club favourite Watson was deemed surplus to requirements, and was sold to the Swinton Lions for a fee of £15,000. ^[7] He spent three years with the Swinton Lions before signing a one-year contract with the Widnes Vikings for the 2001 season. ^[8]

He returned to the Super League a year later, re-joining the Salford City Reds on a one-year deal. ^[9]

Watson played out the remainder of his career in the Championships.

Coaching career

Swinton Lions

In January 2014, Watson was appointed as player-coach for the Swinton Lions. ^[10]

Salford Red Devils

He left Swinton Lions in July 2014 to join the Salford Red Devils as an assistant coach. ^[11] In late 2015, Watson was promoted to interim head coach after Iestyn Harris left the club. ^[12] He was given the job on a permanent basis for 2016, working alongside Director of Rugby Tim Sheens.

He coached the Salford Red Devils to the 2019 Super League Grand Final defeat by St Helens at Old Trafford. ^{[13] [14] [15]}

On 17 October 2020, he coached Salford in the 2020 Challenge Cup Final defeat against Leeds Rhinos at Wembley Stadium. ^[16]

Ian Watson at the Huddersfield Giants

Huddersfield Giants

On 19 November 2020, Watson was confirmed as the new Huddersfield Giants coach on a three-year deal. ^[17]

In round 5 of the 2021 Super League season, Watson earned his first win as Huddersfield coach when they defeated Leeds 14–13. ^[18] In Watson's first year in charge, Huddersfield finished the 2021 Super League season in a disappointing 9th place on the table. ^[19]

In May 2022, he repeated his earlier success with Salford when he steered Huddersfield Giants to the cup final, after defeating Hull Kingston Rovers at Elland Road. On 28 May 2022, Huddersfield were defeated 16–14 in the 2022 Challenge Cup Final by Wigan Warriors. ^[20] Huddersfield finished the regular season in 3rd and entered the playoffs.

On 11 July 2024, it was reported^{[ by whom? ]} that he had left Huddersfield Giants by mutual consent. Huddersfield started the season winning 7 from 10 and making the semi-final of the Challenge Cup against Warrington. ^[21]

Seattle Seawolves

On 7 November 2024, it was reported^{[ by whom? ]} that he had taken up the role of assistant coach at American Major League Rugby side Seattle Seawolves. ^[22]

Representative career

Watson held the record for having won the most caps for Wales, before being surpassed by Rhys Williams in 2022.

Having made his début against the USA in Philadelphia in 1995, he made 30 appearances for Wales, scoring 7 tries and kicking one goal. ^[23]

He played at the 2000 Rugby League World Cup. ^{[24] [25]}

His final appearance for Wales came during the 2011 Four Nations tournament against New Zealand, and he announced his international retirement shortly after. ^[26]

References

1. FreeBMD Entry Information
2. "Profile at loverugbyleague.com". loverugbyleague.com. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
3. "Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org". rugbyleagueproject.org. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
4. "Coach Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org". rugbyleagueproject.org. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
5. "Gay's good news for Castleford". The Independent. 20 July 1996. Retrieved 16 February 2014.
6. Hadfield, Dave (14 January 1998). "Rugby League: Clubs refuse to alter fixtures". The Independent. Retrieved 16 February 2014.
7. Fitzpatrick, Paul (9 February 1998). "Rugby League: Barrow lifts the Lions First Division: Swinton 41, Keighley 16". The Guardian. p. 10. ProQuest   245210714.
8. "Busy Widnes; Rugby League". Coventry Evening Telegraph. 30 August 2000. Archived from the original on 11 June 2014. Retrieved 16 February 2014.
9. "Watson returns". South Wales Echo. 12 December 2001. Archived from the original on 11 June 2014. Retrieved 16 February 2014.
10. "Swinton chairman resigns as club awaits investment". Love Rugby League. 18 January 2014. Retrieved 16 February 2014.
11. Ian Watson signed by Salford
12. Ian Watson's in at the deep end at the Salford Red Devils but learning from legends
13. "St Helens give Justin Holbrook the perfect send-off with commanding Grand Final victory over Salford". The Telegraph. 12 October 2019. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
14. Unwin, Will (12 October 2019). "St Helens 23-6 Salford Red Devils: Super League Grand Final – as it happened". The Guardian.
15. "St Helens win 2019 Super League League Leaders' shield". Sky Sports.
16. "Leeds beat Salford 17-16 after Luke Gale lands late winning drop-goal". BBC Sport.
17. "Huddersfield hire Ian Watson as new head coach". South Wales Guardian. 19 November 2020. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
18. "Huddersfield Giants head coach feeling good after first Super League win of 2021". www.skysports.com.
19. "Huddersfield Giants 42 Leigh Centurions 24: Eight-try Giants finish with a flourish". www.yorkshirepost.co.uk. 19 September 2021.
20. "Challenge Cup final: Huddersfield Giants 14-16 Wigan Warriors". www.bbc.co.uk. 26 May 2022.
21. "Ian Watson 'stood down' as Huddersfield Giants confirm coaching structure change". Love Rugby League. 11 July 2024.
22. Callum Walker (7 November 2024). "Ex-Huddersfield Giants boss Ian Watson lands shock new coaching role". Total RL.
23. "Thomas début on Wednesday" ^{[ dead link ‍]} The Press Association (3 October 2010)
24. Williams, Graham; Lush, Peter; Farrar, David (2009). The British Rugby League Records Book. London League. pp. 108–114. ISBN   978-1-903659-49-6.
25. "Statistics at walesrugbyleague.com". walesrugbyleague.com. 18 June 2010. Archived from the original on 8 June 2010. Retrieved 18 June 2010.
26. "Briers to retire from Wales duty". BBC News.

Sporting positions
Preceded by Gary Chambers 2013	Coach Swinton Lions 2014	Succeeded by John Duffy 2014-2017
Preceded by Iestyn Harris 2014–2015	Coach Salford Red Devils 2016–2020	Succeeded by Richard Marshall 2020-2021
Preceded by Luke Robinson (caretaker) 2020	Coach Huddersfield Giants 2021-2024	Succeeded by Luke Robinson (caretaker) 2024

External links

• (archived by web.archive.org) Leigh profile
• (archived by web.archive.org) The Teams: Wales