Ian Watson may be a coach under pressure, but he tells STEPHEN IBBETSON he’s thinking long-term at Huddersfield Giants.
AS shock announcements go, it was a pretty seismic one.
Club great Eorl Crabtree promised it would be “one of the biggest announcements in our Super League history”, and many supporters agreed when it was revealed last Wednesday.
After twelve seasons as an NRL star with South Sydney Rabbitohs, Tom Burgess will be returning to Super League in 2025, and he will do so in the claret and gold colours of Huddersfield.
As well as being one of the Aussie game’s best imports from England in recent times, Burgess has been among the top performers for the national team over the past decade.
He would have been of interest to numerous Super League clubs, not least Warrington under Tom’s brother Sam, who said Huddersfield’s offer was “out of this world”.
It was a timely reminder of the Giants’ ambition and a sign that the club is still alive and kicking.
“We knew he was off-contract and there was a lot of press about Tom staying in South Sydney, Sam having a little look at him, other Super League clubs having a look at him,” Giants coach Ian Watson explains.
“We spoke as a club about how we feel we’ve got a good really good core of young players now. What we need is some penthouse players, if you like, to top that off and really create a solid team, long-term, for Huddersfield.
“I asked the club if they could contact his agent and see if there was a definite interest in coming back to Super League. His agent came back saying he was open to everything.
“With that, I got on the phone with Tom. We had a really good chat over the phone about what we want as a club, what we want from Tom, and how his role would shape Huddersfield.
“His agent came back saying he was really keen and interested in the prospect of it all and we just needed to negotiate a deal. That was left between the two parties and he signed the following morning.
“It happened very quickly in a week-and-a-half or two-week period. You need to move quickly for a player of that calibre.”
Burgess should, even allowing for the fact he will be 32 when he joins Huddersfield next year, be a hugely significant presence in the front row of their team.
But Watson also expects him to be a leader in the group and an example to follow, which will raise standards across the board.
“If anybody knows anything about the Burgesses – I’m really lucky, I had first-hand knowledge of Tom through seeing him with Great Britain in 2019 (when Watson was an assistant coach on their southern-hemisphere tour), and I worked with Luke at Salford – they’re impeccable in the way they go about things, on and off the field.
“They’re first-class in what they do. That’s the kind of people I want at Huddersfield, to create a legacy.
“We had that a couple of years ago when we brought in players like Danny Levi, Ricky Leutele, Théo Fages. My main thing all the time is to try and get a new legacy here at Huddersfield. I think Tom can help us do that.
“We’ve got a lot of good quality young players now, You look at Harry Rushton, Olly Wilson, Fenton Rogers; people like them should be really excited at this and want to be in a position to play with a guy like Tom long-term.
“Hopefully it gives them a sign of the ambition of the club, but also the ambition we have for them to be top, top players.”
The news followed what has, by and large, been a pretty negative twelve-month period in that corner of West Yorkshire.
This time last year, Ken Davy was proclaiming the strongest squad he had seen in his long time as club owner. Many pundits were saying Huddersfield could top the league, and push for a first Grand Final appearance.
How differently it all played out. They spent two weeks in the top half all season, back in March, before an excruciating slide down the table.
After one run of eight defeats from nine in all competitions, including a truly dreadful hammering at Leeds, it looked like time might be up for Watson.
But the club kept faith, a short winning run took them clear of any relegation danger, and they settled for a hugely underwhelming ninth-place finish.
“Nothing is fun when you’re losing. Everything is fun when you’re winning,” says Watson.
“You’ve got to treat it and have a bit of perspective, understand where your playing group are at that time, and get a balance.
“We’re excited now so there’s no point looking too far back on what happened. That’s gone, it’s history, it’s one to learn from. This year is exciting and we’ll see where we go.”
One thing Watson seems to have learned is expectation management. After making Huddersfield’s ambitions public and clear last winter – which followed a third-place finish and Challenge Cup final appearance – only to see them fail to deliver, he won’t be found proclaiming Huddersfield’s potential this year.
“Day-to-day, week-to-week is what we spoke about as a club, and getting better and better,” says the coach.
“I’m not putting any label on (success) this year. We’ve probably done too much talking on that. We just need to be about actions.
“There are lots of things we’ve looked at as a group and as a coaching team. There are things we’ve tweaked this year to hopefully make it better. I’ll let you know if they work out!”
Quite a few supporters are suggesting that Watson’s style of play is something to tweak, perhaps significantly. When it works, their tactic of wearing down the opposition and taking few risks is tolerable. When it doesn’t, it’s a particularly tough watch.
Only strugglers Castleford and Wakefield scored fewer points last season, despite the rich talent at Huddersfield’s disposal, but it’s fair to say Watson won’t be for turning regardless of any criticism that comes his way.
“I know that one minute some people are patting you on the back and the next they’re not,” he says.
“Everyone will have an opinion and that’s the beauty of sport. Everyone would do different things to what I do. I do some things differently to what they would do.”
He insists a bigger issue last term was injuries and he has a point to some degree. The spine was never settled as Jake Connor, Oliver Russell and Fages were laid out for spells, while a number of forwards, including Joe Greenwood, Josh Jones (now retired), Rushton and Owen Trout (now at Leigh), had long-term lay-offs – though their deep squad should, in theory, have been well placed to cope.
“I still sit here today confident that the team could have gone really well if we’d stayed away from injuries,” says Watson.
“I have the same belief in this team. Injuries and suspensions sometimes hurt you but we’ve got to deal with it better.”
The squad again looks good on paper. Connor should be better after admitting he was not at peak fitness in his first season back, veterans like Chris Hill and Kevin Naiqama are still in good nick, while many developing players are a year older and – hopefully – wiser.
While experience has been lost – Jermaine McGillvary’s long Giants career has been ended with a switch to Wakefield, while Chris McQueen and Nathan Peats have retired – a strong set of replacements has been lined up.
Adam Clune has signed from Newcastle Knights (the destination for young Will Pryce) to lead the team around, winger Adam Swift crosses Yorkshire after a fine season with Hull FC, while Jack Murchie and Andre Savelio have been recruited in the back row.
A focus on youth is also evident in the recruitment of Thomas Deakin (who turns 22 this week) from Sydney Roosters, Hugo Salabio and Elliot Wallis (both 23) from Wakefield and Castleford respectively, and George Flanagan (19) from Bradford.
“I’d say we’ve got a lot more of the younger players now. There’s more hunger and ambition about those guys,” says Watson.
“It would be nice if we could have somebody like Tom (Burgess) this year, to give that experience to some of the younger players, but it’s our job to try and develop those young players and make them better. I believe we can do that.
“We’ve got a young frontrower in Hugo who is going really well in pre-season and hopefully he can only get better. Elliot Wallis is coming through and he’s getting better every week too. Hopefully he’ll continue in that vein.
“Building the club through some younger players, you’ll have some sustainability and longevity with them. It was important to sign them long-term. The idea is to create a team long-term.”
It’s an admirable stance for a coach who must surely be under pressure for results in the here and now.
