{"id":603176,"date":"2026-05-25T15:31:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-25T15:31:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/603176\/"},"modified":"2026-05-25T15:31:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-25T15:31:10","slug":"ian-watson-still-holds-head-coach-ambitions-as-he-comments-on-hull-kr-top-job","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/603176\/","title":{"rendered":"Ian Watson still holds head coach ambitions as he comments on Hull KR top job"},"content":{"rendered":"

Watson joined Rovers in the off-season<\/p>\n

13:01, 25 May 2026Updated 13:02, 25 May 2026<\/p>\n

\"Hull<\/p>\n

Picture by Matthew Merrick\/SWpix.com – 10\/05\/2026 – Rugby League – Betfred Challenge Cup Semi Final – Warrington Wolves v Hull KR -Ecopower Stadium, Doncaster, England. Rovers Ass Coach Ian Watson<\/p>\n

Hull KR assistant Ian Watson has ambitions of becoming a head coach once more down the line, but it’s unlikely to be at Craven Park.<\/p>\n

After spending a year and a half out of rugby league<\/a> following his departure from Huddersfield Giants, Watson joined Willie Peters’ backroom team at KR in the off-season alongside Luke Gale.<\/p>\n

The coach spent time with rugby union side Seattle Seawolves during his time away from the sport, but the return to Super League was a return to what he knows best and he seems to have settled in well in east Hull, helping the club reach the Challenge Cup final and go on a nine-game winning run.<\/p>\n

However, change is on the way at KR with Peters set to join Papua New Guinea Chiefs at the end of the season. A new head coach is yet to be appointed but the process is now in its final stages, with Paul Lakin pushing to find the right man to fill Peters’ shoes.<\/p>\n

Watson admits the new Rovers boss probably won’t be him, but he does have ambitions of claiming a top job down the line once more following his spells in charge of Huddersfield and Salford Red Devils.<\/p>\n

“I don’t think so,” Watson said when asked if in the running on Sky Sports’ The Bench podcast.<\/p>\n

“I think the one thing they’re really good at at Hull KR<\/a> is having a bit of a succession plan.<\/p>\n

“I think there has been somebody in mind who they have got. Whether that works out or not, they will be able to tell you that. I won’t be able to tell you that.<\/p>\n

“I have had a chat with the club and just said, if it was a case of having some consistency in the way that they train, the way that they prepare, because it’s very, very similar.<\/p>\n

“If they want that kind of consistency, then I would be willing to look at that and step forward if that was needed to and they thought I was the right person to do it.<\/p>\n

“My ambition is to get back into head coaching at some point. Whether it is here, we don’t know.<\/p>\n

“Nobody ever knows. I think everything is timing.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Watson joined Rovers in the off-season 13:01, 25 May 2026Updated 13:02, 25 May 2026 Picture by Matthew Merrick\/SWpix.com…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":603177,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[20448,20372,5903,20370,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-603176","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-challenge-cup","tag-hull-kr","tag-rugby","tag-rugby-league","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/603176","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=603176"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/603176\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/603177"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=603176"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=603176"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=603176"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}