What now for Last after Watson’s revelations?
Ian Watson’s openness and honesty had to be admired as he spoke about the speculation linking him to the Hull FC job. Aware that discussions were to go no further, the Salford Red Devils’ head coach nipped all the rumours and talk in the bud by explaining the situation with clarity.
Adam Pearson made contact with Watson and the pair had a number of conversations about the vacant head coach spot at the KCOM Stadium, but for a variety of reasons he will be staying in Greater Manchester.
Watson chose his words carefully and he spoke highly of FC, both in terms of their professionalism and the size of the club, but he never claimed to be offered the job.
Clearly FC showed an interest in Watson, enough to approach
Salford for permission to speak to the highly-rated coach, but it is understood that is as far as the process went, with Hull continuing to explore all options available to them ahead of the 2021 campaign.
With the season coming to an end in the next few weeks, the issue of Hull’s next permanent head coach is high on the agenda.
The club’s hierarchy are meeting regularly to discuss the role, their opinions on potential candidates and routes to take as they continue to put plans together ahead of next year.
As such, just because Hull spoke to Watson, that doesn’t rule Andy Last out of the running and it is thought the club’s interim head coach is being considered alongside a number of other candidates.
In fact, any suggestions Last has been overlooked due to discussions taking place externally are believed to be wide of the mark at this stage.
The 39-year-old reinforced his interest in the top job at the KCOM only last week when asked in his post-match press conference, which concluded just moments before he was told the game against Catalans Dragons had been cancelled.
Last has been reluctant to look too far into the future, instead focusing on the task at hand of winning games and attempting to guide the Black and Whites through what has been a testing few months.
It’s a notion he has stuck to during his time in charge.
But, his desire to take the position on a permanent basis has always shone through and he revealed positive feedback has come from the chairman lately.
“We had a chat six to eight weeks ago and Adam said to continue what I was doing,” he said.
“He said I was doing a good job in a very difficult period and he needed me to settle the ship and navigate the club through tough waters. I feel as though I’ve done that during that period of adversity with the challenges we faced, and the team has really come together and shown some improvements in performance.
“We’ve steadied the ship, but with regards to the long-term I’m not sure what the plan is.
“I want to keep working hard with the group, which we’ve been doing and hope the positive performances continue.”
The club’s recent upturn in results has not gone unnoticed and whether it is possible to guide the Black and Whites to the play-offs or not this season, a job which looks increasingly difficult after Leeds Rhinos’ win over Castleford Tigers on Monday, Last will only strengthen his claim should FC finish well this season.
The wheels of momentum have started to turn on the pitch under Last, with three wins in the last four games and an impressive end to the season might just convince the club’s decision-makers to stick with the former hooker, who knows the club better than most.
It seems the interim head coach has the support of the players too, with a host of key names speaking out in favour of Last since he took the reins from Lee Radford in March.
As a club FC have work to do in order to be ready for next season, and with Jamie Shaul set for surgery on a ruptured ACL, the squad any prospective head coach would have to work with next season is on the agenda, as well.
However, with November fast approaching and the pre-season campaign being planned out meticulously, who leads the Black and Whites into 2021 is the issue that is most pressing and that process will gather pace in the coming weeks.