Here’s the transcript of what Ian Watson said regarding his future at Salford last night.
Hull interest
“Hull came forward and were really good.
“I can’t speak highly enough of how professional they were. They did everything the right way, they went to the club and asked for permission to speak to me. The club gave them that permission, I spoke to Adam (Pearson) and James (Clark) at Hull and they were really good in terms of being genuine people talking about the staff and players at Hull, their own families and what they wanted to do.
“My concern was my players and my staff at Salford as well. It was really interesting, it’s classed as that top four club and I do feel that’s the next step and progression.
“I just felt with the circumstances and the timing with Covid and everything; my girls are in the final year of A-Levels and GCSEs, it’s probably just a bit too early. But I’m flattered and honest they even considered me.”
The club meeting his ambitions.
“For the squad we’ve got next year I think we’ve got one of the best backlines in the competition. Our forwards need some new additions, we probably need three or four really good players to make sure we’re competing at the top end of the table.
“We just need people to get behind us. I know it’s really tough for everyone at this moment in time. Paul King and Ian Blease have been working hard on sponsorship and season tickets.
“We just want to be that top club and we want to win something. We don’t just want to go to Wembley and the Grand Final and not win, that’s not going to be good enough for us, we want to win something.”
Being able to recruit the top players he wants.
“I think people have seen what we’re about, that we have played in major finals, they know people who are coming to Salford for the right reason. Attracting someone like Kallum Watkins and his calibre speaks for itself.”
Reports of interest from Wigan and St Helens.
“They’ve got some good coaches in there mate and they seem to be doing decent jobs there. There’s been nothing in that, nothing at all. The one I spoke to was Hull and like I say, I was really flattered to even be spoken to.”
What the future holds.
“I think the good thing is if you’re doing well you keep getting pats on the back. I can only focus on the job I do, so long as I’ve got the respect to do my job well that’s good enough for me and we’ll take it from there. At some point, everyone says a coach has a lifespan at a club so at some point I probably will move or would like to move; I’d like to coach in the NRL someday. But there’s a process to get there and I’m still learning and really enjoying what I’m doing at this moment in time.”
