Salford boss Ian Watson reveals how less is proving more in stunning season
IAN WATSON knew what he has not got when asked if he was waiting for someone at a Super League meeting, when his entire staff was with him!
But a childhood mantra of making the most of what he has got has propelled Salford to the verge of greatness – and less is definitely proving more.
The Red Devils stunned everyone by finishing third, their highest place since they won the league in 1976, as they reached the Play-Offs for the first time since 2006.
Not bad for someone whose entire staff is six people, as was brutally yet unintentionally pointed out when clubs got together and has NO money to play with.
However, a philosophy that became engrained when he grew up in the Eccles and Winton areas of Salford has served him well – like many in the city and neighbouring Manchester he has focused on not being swamped with jealousy.
“When you go to Super League meetings as a staff, we’re sat at the table and someone may say, ‘Are you waiting for somebody,’” Watson revealed.
“We’re like, ‘No, this is us.’ There’s six of us and everyone else has about 15 around the table. That makes me realise we don’t have as much but that makes us work. If you have a staff of 30, you can’t speak to everyone every day.
“It’s that Salford attitude. You’ve got to roll your sleeves up, get dirty and multi-task. That’s a big thing from how I was brought up.
“We weren’t flooded with money and had to make do. If I got a present, I had to really understand the value of it, appreciate it and show respect for it. That’s something I’ve always tried to live by.
“We’ve probably had adversity for four-and-a-half years. I think there’s something different comes up every week at Salford. We’re probably going to have to rebuild the team again next year, our third in that time.
“We also lost Marwan Koukash as owner and a new board came in, so there had to be a real transformation to keep our Super League status on the back of that.
“I probably didn’t think we’d be sat third before the season started. I thought we’d have a shot – aiming for fifth spot – but it’s worked out better than that.
“We lack finances, everyone knew and thought we wouldn’t compete but we knew we could put ourselves in with a shot of getting to where we wanted to go.”
Watson’s success has not gone unnoticed. He will head Down Under as Great Britain’s assistant coach on their tour to New Zealand and Papua New Guinea.
Jackson Hastings, who heads to tonight’s opponents Wigan, has taken centre stage but several other ‘waifs and strays’ have stood up.
There are those who were bombed out, told they were not good enough, dumped on by other clubs, or were written off as crocks.
But like his own personal approach, attitude beats anything and the second bite of the cherry they earned is not entering Salford’s thinking.
He added: “We lost players, our analyst and assistant coaches. Things like that disrupt you and you question things to make sure you’re on the ball and I set the cables up for the analysis on a matchday,
“Some head coaches wouldn’t know where the wires are and I have to help the kit man sometimes. Doing those little things can help build relationships.
“And the players have lifted a lot of pressure – the likes of Lee Mossop, Gil Dudson, Tyrone McCarthy, Mark Flanagan and Jackson – and have a lot of accountability themselves.
“They’ve helped generate our environment and we’re approaching tonight as the last game we’re ever going to play together.”
