Howieson using League wisdom to spur Tigers

SHEFFIELD Tigers DoR Jack Howieson is trying to implement a hybrid brand of rugby that takes the best from Rugby Union and League.

Howieson is six weeks into his role at Dore Moor and wins over Bourneville, Blaydon and Loughborough, followed by a narrow loss at Tynedale last week, suggest the players are taking his ideas on board.

Howieson, from Hemel Hempstead, has a love of all things rugby – whatever the code. He spent 13 years as a pro RL player at Sheffield Eagles and is related to former Scotland RU internationals, Derrick and Oliver Grant.

Once a promising Hertfordshire RU U16s player, the 40-year-old followed in their footsteps by wearing a thistle on his chest, appearing 12 times for Scotland in Rugby League, including an appearance at the 2008 RL World Cup.

“My family is pretty much a Union family so I’ve always had an interest, I’ve watched Rugby Union the whole of my life,” he said. “My dad’s cousins, Derrick and Oliver Grant, played for Scotland in the 60s and Derrick also played for the British Lions and coached Scotland as well.”

Aged 16, Howieson decided his future lay in League not Union and a move to the Steel City occurred, just after the most tumultuous two years of the Eagles’ existence. Having beaten all-conquering Wigan in the 1988 Challenge Cup Final, the Eagles went bust the following year.

The year after that Howieson, below, joined and was an integral member of the side that won promotion from the old Northern Ford Premiership and then two Championship titles.

Howieson continued in League as a coach and had spells at Dewsbury Rams and York City Knights, while also trying his hand as a Union player at Sheffield.

“I played there for two or three years, a mixture of first and seconds, and I played 10, 12 and 6. I even played one game in the front row when we were short. Bomber Hislop was doing some forward coaching and he taught me how to play front row in two to three hours one night. They needed some trained cover on the bench for the game and I played about 30 minutes.

The next day, I could hardly move my head.”

That painful experience gave Howieson even more respect for Union, as the two sports become closer and closer – something he is trying to encourage down at Dore Moor.

“Rugby League players look at Rugby Union and think to themselves, ‘not another scrum, the game has stopped again … this is boring’. But on the other side of the coin, you’re thinking, ‘god, I’ve got to push in another scrum and I am absolutely knackered, my neck is killing me and my back is aching.’

“Front rowers, especially, have to show a lot of mental toughness to go scrum after scrum after scrum. It’s not something you really appreciate when you’re in Rugby League, where you appreciate the big contacts and the relentless attack and defence.”

The two sports can, however, go hand-in-hand as has been evidenced higher up the rugby ladder when the likes of Bath, under Mike Ford, adopted a diamond-shaped attack

behind the scrum, copied from Rugby League. Similarly, Howieson is keen to try out different things in National

League

Two North. “I’ve always thought there are so many things that can be transferred over from Rugby League, and that has started to happen over the last few years,” he said.

“The sports are coming closer together in terms of the shapes of teams and how they attack and how they defend. I am trying to work out and advise where those things can come in. I come up with ideas I think will work and the coaches, Jamie Broadley and George Oram, are open to new ideas. Between us, we work out a way that fits.”

Howieson has joined a club that is thriving in all aspects. Mini and junior numbers have never been healthier and the newlyformed women’s XV marked their debut at the end of October with a 93-0 win against Belper Ladies.

Introducing a colts team and a girls section have been identified as the next projects. With the club’s current facilities at stretching point due to the influx of players, more land is being purchased to build a fourth pitch.

Howieson, as well as overseeing first XV matters, is putting structures in place to ensure there is a clear and defined pathway for players to progress through the ranks.

“We want Sheffield players playing for Sheffield,” he said.