Salford City

Salford Red Devils have announced that Head Coach Ian Watson has penned a new two-year deal at the club – meaning that he will remain at the AJ Bell Stadium until 2022.

Watson played a key role in helping Salford reach the Betfred Super League grand final last year and has since enjoyed a stint with Great Britain on their tour of New Zealand.

At a time where players have come and gone, most notably the 2019 Man of Steel Jackson Hastings – who departed for Wigan Warriors – Watson stays put to see what his new look side can do after defying the odds last term.

The 43-year-old, who made 23 appearances for Salford as a player said: “I’m ambitious and I want to win things. To do that, you’ve got to build foundations and have them in place.”

He added: “The club are showing that they want to go in that direction.

“We can now tell players that we’re here for the next few years and invite them to come along for the adventure.”

Director of rugby & operations Ian Blease said: “The is probably the most significant deal I’ve done in my time at the club. I truly believe we’ve got the best head coach in the Super League.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do and getting those signatures means we can now plan with that foundation in place.

“There’s a real camaraderie in our back room team and you can see that carry across to the players on the pitch, so securing these extensions was massive for the direction of the club.”

Head of Strength and Conditioning Greg Brown has also signed a new two-year extension at the club ahead of the 2020 campaign which gets underway tomorrow night at St Helens.

Image credit: PA Images

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