Highly-experienced coach Martin Rowse is basking in the memory of his club’s latest title-winning campaign in the National Conference League whilst also looking to the future.
HUNSLET ARLFC retained the NCL championship at the beginning of October by beating Minor Premiers Siddal in a pulsating Grand Final at Featherstone’s Millennium Stadium.
Martin Rowse’s colleague in the dugout, Sam Thorpe, was the deserving recipient of the NCL’s Coach of the Year accolade, and Rowse, who has worked closely with Thorpe since Hunslet Club Parkside and Hunslet Warriors merged a couple of years ago, has also had a key part to play in the south Leeds outfit’s continuing success.
While Hunslet have previously lifted the coveted silverware from first (or, once, second spot), they did it the hard way in 2024.
The side finished fourth in the standings and Rowse reflected: “If you come top or second you get a second bite of the cherry but there are no second chances when you finish fourth.
“Every game is a cup final and we knew that it would be tough, especially with away games at Rochdale Mayfield and West Hull after we’d beaten Wath Brow Hornets at home.
“We trained and planned specifically for that. It was hard to do, it’s not just about the players but about the club as a whole; it’s vital that an environment is created in which everyone is happy and pulling in the same direction and everyone, on and off the field, did their bit.”
It could be said that Hunslet are top of the grassroots pyramid both because of, and despite, the merger. A coming-together of old rivals inevitably carries risk which, to a degree, soon became reality and Rowse admitted: “There was maybe a bit of rumbling at junior level about the merger. Things went well at Open Age but it would have been naïve to imagine that there wouldn’t be any issues at any of the age groups from Under 6s to Under 16s, with parents and coaches obviously involved as well as players.
“The youth and junior sections are, in truth, more important than open age. They’re the future of this club. It’s fair to say, though, that things have settled down and that the age groups are buoyant.”
That augurs well for the future and the question arises: what’s the secret of the club’s sustained success? Rowse confided: “I’ve been a coach for a long time and my philosophy has emerged from having been coached by so many others.
“I’ve picked something up from all of them, from how things should be done to how, in my opinion, perhaps they shouldn’t, and I’ve moulded that to my own approach.
“It’s not just about rugby balls and cones, it’s also very much about man-management, and about not being too serious all the time – although there are occasions, of course, when you really do have to be serious.
“We don’t set the bar too high, it does no good to start a new season announcing that you’re going to win Grand Finals. Do that and you’re in real danger of setting yourself up to fail. Our first target is to secure Premier Division status, the next is to make the play-offs, and the next is to reach the final.”
None of that simply happens, as Rowse stressed: “You have to have some good players, and others who can step up to the mark with them.
“We got tested last season,” Rowse reflected. “If you’re champions you are there to be beaten. When teams beat us, it’s as though they have won a cup final, and that presents us with a real challenge. We have to galvanise ourselves, and train even harder.
“There was time to celebrate our success, but it’s now about next season and beyond.
“We have some good young kids coming through, ready to make an impact next year, and they are our future. Our present first team players have been, and are, superb. Youngsters, however, are knocking on the door and must also be given their chance.
“The lads who represented Hunslet ARLFC on the recent England Lions tour to Western Australia are all good players and good blokes, on and off the pitch. When Lions coach Paul Couch approached me for my feelings on which of our players were worthy of selection for England I told him all of them, and I meant it, although I fully appreciate that an international squad can’t all come from the same club.
“The five we sent – Ben Shulver (what a gift to a team he is) Jake Dearden (who is unplayable on his day) the brothers Craig and Jack McShane, and (I make no apologies for mentioning him) my son Danny all played key roles in us winning the Test series 2-0. Danny is a real organiser and even if it seems to the casual observer that he might not be playing well it’s a fact that, in his absence, a team can be like a ship without a rudder.”
He ventured: “A few more of our lads could also have made the plane to Australia. Josh McLelland, George Clarke (who is as mad as a box of frogs, and you need blokes like that in your team), and Tyler Dargan would certainly not have looked out of place while if Moris Kamano hadn’t signed for Featherstone Rovers he might well have been in the squad. Dearden was out of form at the beginning of the season but I told him, ‘just keep on going, it will come’ and he came out of it, playing with a smile on his face.”
Rowse concluded: “I stepped back a little last year, generally playing a supporting role to Sam. I aim to take that a stage further from 2025. I’ll be there to offer advice when needed, but I’ve a lot on my plate away from rugby. I plan to work more on the committee, perhaps in seeking sponsors.”
First published in Rugby League World magazine, Issue 504 (January 2025)
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