Salford Red Devils coach dubbed best in Super League by leading NRL CEO

Wests Tigers CEO Shane Richardson has dubbed Salford coach Paul Rowley the best British coach in Super League.

Richardson, speaking at length on James Graham’s The Bye Round podcast, admits Rowley is the coach who impressed him most during his trip to the United Kingdom last year.

Rowley has performed an incredible job at Salford on a limited budget compared to many other Super League clubs. He is also earning great praise for the way he has navigated the Red Devils through their latest financial criss.

Rowley is planning to step upstairs next year, with Kurt Haggerty set to succeed him as head coach. But Richardson admitted he is a keen admirer of the Salford boss.

“Do you know who the best coach is in England? I went right all around the clubs in England because we knew were getting an assistant at the end of that year,” the Wests Tigers supremo said.

“The best English coach in Super League by a mile? Paul Rowley, he is the best coach by a mile in my opinion.

“What he’s done for Salford with no money, he’s never had money. He knocked back Leeds as a head coach to show loyalty to Salford.

“People talk about him travelling to Leeds and everything else, Leeds would have offered him anything he wanted.

“He’s put a team together that on paper you’d say.. Batley would have a big chance against them. But he was won game after game and has been to Challenge Cup and Super League Finals on an absolute shoestring (however, Ian Watson was the man to take Salford to both of those events).

“He’s proven no matter how well you run the club, it comes down to how many people go through the gates and how much money you get from Super League.”