Ranking every permanent Huddersfield Giants coach of the Super League era following Ian Watson’s dismissal

Huddersfield Giants have had 10 men at the helm during their time in Super League to date, having spent just one season outside the top flight since 1998. The latest chief, Ian Watson, departed earlier this week.

Below, we’ve ranked all 10 permanent fixtures in the Giants‘ hotseat by win percentage, from worst to best…

Note: These win percentages take into account every competitive game the individual has taken charge of, including all cup competitions and play-off matches etc., unless stated otherwise

Key: P = Played, W = Won, D = Drew, L = Lost

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10. John Kear (2000) – 10.52%

P:19, W:2, D:0, L:17

Now-69-year-old Kear took charge of the newly-merged and re-branded Huddersfield-Sheffield Giants at the start of the 2000 season.

By mid-July, he’d departed the club after just 19 games in charge, winning just two – both against Wakefield Trinity.

9. Garry Schofield (1998) – 15.38%

P:13, W:2, D:0, L:11

Player-coach Schofield’s tenure was even shorter, taking the coaching reins at the start of the 1998 campaign as the Giants were promoted up to Super League for the first time following the demise of French outfit Paris-Saint Germain.

The legendary Great Britain international spent 13 games at the helm, and also won just two – beating Warrington Wolves & Castleford Tigers. Schofield went on to return to the field as a player with Doncaster & Bramley before hanging up his boots for good.

8. Mal Reilly (1999) – 18.75%

P:32, W:6, D:0, L:26

Reilly was the next permanent Giants coach after Schofield, taking charge ahead of the following season, but lasting just the one year in the job.

The ex-Newcastle Knights chief oversaw a campaign which saw Huddersfield end bottom of the Super League table, finishing below Hull FC on points difference. Winning five Super League games, the Giants also beat Swinton in the Fourth Round of the Challenge Cup that year.

7. Tony Smith (2001 – 2003) – 31.66%

P:60, W:19, D:2, L:39

Here’s one that’s a little complicated. Australian Smith took the reins at the John Smith’s Stadium at the start of the 2001 season, but the Giants were relegated that year. They bounced back instantly, and returned to Super League for the 2003 campaign, which he departed at the end of.

Accordingly, the stats above include the 2001 & 2003 seasons, but not the 2002 campaign. So, during Smith’s time in charge of Huddersfield as a Super League club, they had a win percentage of just over 31% across all competitions – finishing 10th on the ladder in 2003

6. Rick Stone (2016 – 2018) – 38.29%

P:47, W:18, D:3, L:26

Stone took charge in West Yorkshire in mid-July 2016 following the departure of Paul Anderson. The Aussie had big shoes to fill, and never really filled them. All five of his first wins at the helm came in The Qualifiers – beating Featherstone Rovers, Batley Bulldogs, London Broncos, Leeds Rhinos & Hull KR to salvage their Super League status.

The now-57-year-old would go on to lead the Giants to an eighth place finish the following season, and by the end of March 2018, he’d been dismissed.

5. Jon Sharp (2004 – 2008) – 43.66%

P:142, W:62, D:2, L:78

Pontefract-born Sharp succeeded Tony Smith in the Giants’ hotseat, and failed to reach 15 wins in only one of his four full seasons at the helm. 2006 saw him lead the club to Twickenham for the Challenge Cup final, beaten by St Helens on the day, though still achieving something a generation of the club’s supporters had never seen.

Having won just five of their first 16 matches across all competitions in 2008, Sharp’s last game in charge – towards the end of May that year – saw Huddersfield beaten 48-0 away against Catalans Dragons, making it five wins in 17. The now-57-year-old dipped out of the game soon after his Giants exit, and now owns is own company in the ‘high hazard’ industry.

4. Simon Woolford (2018 – 2020) – 45%

P:60, W:27, D:0, L:33

Woolford, a New South Wales native, succeeded Rick Stone in April 2018. He began life as the Giants’ boss with 12 wins in his first 14 games across all competitions, before losing five on the bounce to end the 2018 season.

An up and down 2019 campaign followed, before the complex mess that was the COVD-19 impacted 2020 campaign arrived. After a four-and-a-half month pause, Huddersfield resumed with five straight defeats. Woolford’s contract was up come the end of that season, and a new deal wasn’t forthcoming, so he took the decision to leave the club midway through September.

3. Ian Watson (2021 – 2024) – 47.11%

P:104, W:49, D:1, L:54

The man that’s inspired this ranking. After assistant Luke Robinson had overseen the remainder of that ill-fated 2020 campaign, Watson was brought in by the Giants as Woolford’s permanent successor. Taking charge ahead of 2021, the Salfordian led the West Yorkshire outfit into the play-offs with a 3rd-place finish the following year and reached the Challenge Cup final.

Last season was mightily disappointing on the back of that success though, and despite there being patches at the start of this campaign where the Giants looked half-decent, they’ve fallen into a horrible slump. Watson’s tenure ended with a woeful run of just one win in nine, with a heavy defeat to Warrington in the Challenge Cup semi-final included in that.

2. Paul Anderson (2012 – 2016) – 54.91%

P:122, W:67, D:5, L:50

Having spent a long time as an assistant at the club, and previously taken charge on an interim basis, Anderson was handed the reins permanently towards the end of the 2012 season – appointed in mid-July that year. His first full season in charge in 2013 saw the Giants win the League Leaders’ Shield, with that the first time the club had finished top of the top flight in 81 years.

But having lost at home to Wigan in the play-offs, Anderson’s side were then beaten at Warrington and failed to reach the Grand Final. That was as close as they came to any sort of glory, with more wins than losses in the next two campaigns without real success – and then 14 defeats in 19 to end his tenure in 2016, relieved of his duties in June that year.

1. Nathan Brown (2009 – 2012) – 59.83%

P:122, W:73, D:1, L:48

Now 50, Brown had taken charge of over 150 NRL games with St George Illawarra Dragons by the time he arrived at the John Smith’s Stadium ahead of the 2009 campaign. He took the Giants to Wembley in the Challenge Cup final in his first year in charge, beaten under the arch by Warrington.

Each of Brown’s there full seasons at the helm saw Huddersfield qualify for the Super League play-offs, and even in the 2012 campaign which saw him depart in July, the Australian ended with a positive win-loss record. He is the club’s best-ever coach in the Super League era – according to win percentage – by quite some margin.