Neither had:

Madge
Wane

They did alright. Your point is poor and baseless.

I can only assume Huddersfield have promised Watson a decent budget to play with and he feels they have a higher potential than Salford. They certainly produce a few of their own youngsters and in Sezer they have a player they can build a team around. Good luck to him.

However it does feel to me like he is killing time, with no disrespect to Huddersfield. It's only a matter of time until Saints, Wigan or Warrington have a vacancy and Watson will be near the top of any shortlist drawn up. He'll have a good crack at getting Huddersfield in and around the playoffs for the next year or 2 and then it's a case of who blinks first out of the "big 3."

They are building and to do a job there would put him in the prime shop window position for a job at Saints, Wigan or Warrington - I’d be tempted to add Leeds in there too. I’d agree with your ‘killing time’ point but with great reward comes a great risk, and this is a huge risk. If he crashes and burns at Huddersfield he’s all but ruined any chance of a “big 4” job.

There’s a very real possibility 2-3 of those big jobs will be coming up in the next 12months or so, a very short period to turn around a club who have many issues on and off the field. There’s a very high risk that this move is actually more damaging to Watson. It doesn’t make sense for him to have made that move without some kind of fall out or disagreement with the powers that be at Salford.

I can only see this being:

- Huddersfield breaking the bank to offer more than Salford. Coaching jobs are precarious so can't blame him for taking short term money if that's the case.
- Some sort of fall out at Salford.
- Maybe some frustration with the lack of depth at Salford, given that they conceded a game this year.

It's certainly a weird one though. If they had a bad year at Salford in 2021 he probably keeps his job as long as they don't get relegated, because they know what he can do there. At Huddersfield he has none of that goodwill, people would say he can't do it away from his home club and he would be gone IMO.

I think the length of contract he signs at Huddersfield will be quite telling. I can't see them being happy with him only signing a 1 year deal for example but maybe a 2 year deal with some form of get out clause wouldn't surprise me. Deep down they're going to know they're a stepping stone for him.

Pretty spot on for me that.

I agree, howeverDavy is the 2nd richest owner in Superleague, worth more than Simon Moran. I suppose if he wants to he could bankroll Huddersfield to the limit.

Do you mean 2nd richest behind Simon Moran? Can't think who would be in front of those two.

Apparently his kids are in the later stages of their schooling and he doesn't want to move - hence why he turned down Hull. Manchester area to Huddersfield is easily commutable every day - Manchester to Hull and you're spending 4-6 hours in the car every day.

He'll obviously have more resources at Huddersfield.

Caddick 1st, Davy 2nd, Moran 3rd.

I think this is a good move for him. In reality he has probably taken Salford as far as they can go without a sugar daddy.

In Huddersfield, with all due respect he has a club with greater financial backing but without the pressure of a Wigan/StH/Leeds/Warrington. If he can get them to compete towards the top it would be good for his development as a coach and for his future prospects.

Obviously he's not the outright owner, but what about Mike Danson and us? According a story on the business desk he's worth £1.1bn.

I wonder if he is helping cover the losses. To have signed Bateman and Field, whilst keeping French and possibly Hastings all at a time when the club must stand to make huge losses is amazing work by Lenagan and you wonder if he’s had some support in propping us up.

Quite possibly, but that doesn't tie up with the Cassidy and Johnson releases? Unless they weren't cut because of money being tight and more to do with performance?

£1.1bn is football level money and it's scary to think what impact even a small % of that could have on the club.

That’s true, we certainly look to be trying to ensure the cut backs are done away from the field, which will always be what the fans will look at first. You’d have to think those exits will be replaced though, especially Johnson.

If we had a billionaire investor willing to throw cash at us I'm sure we would be signing someone better than Jai Field.

is that sarcasm?

maybe we have upgraded Johnson and Cassidy well they programme he was involved in was cancelled for the season and was the only paid member of staff on it.

You'd certainly expect Johnson to be replaced.

I've argued for ages that investing in the backroom staff is one area that can really set clubs apart. You only need to look at the difference a guy like Bitcon made to realise the difference getting a true expert and "jobs for the boys" can make.

In fairness to Johnson I think there's been a marked improvement in strength and conditioning this year compared to 2019. I was very skeptical about him being in that position but he looks to have done a good job.

Doesn’t matter if we have a millionaire or billionaire as an owner when there’s a salary cap. The signing of Field isn’t much more than a punt on an inexperienced lad who should be really well suited to superleague but keeping French, hopefully keeping Hastings and signing a genuine World Class player in John Bateman takes some good investment.

I'm going against what I said the other day about stalking people you haven't met but a quick google has shown me Johnson is well qualified in the area to be honest. He has the same qualifications as Bitcon.

Well if money was no object you would let Hastings leave, pay off G.Burgess' contract and get Nathan Cleary in on £1m a year as a marquee. Would you not?

Promise I'm not just picking fights on purpose...

Johnson is probably well qualified, but what's his experience like? Is it predominantly based in RL, or has he got experience in different sports too? Stuff like that can give you a real rounded knowledge of different practices - like the saying goes "you don't know, what you don't know".

I don't think it's unfair to say that there's more to a job than just getting qualifications too. You see it all the time in professional services, plenty of people having the same qualifications, but that doesn't make them all equal in regards to ability.

Agree with you on this.
Seems odd to announce the departures of Johnson and Cassidy without advising of their replacements.
Maybe TL is moving into Cassidy’s old role whilst still playing?Not sure if the rules would allow that?