Ian Watson: Salford Red Devils head coach signs new deal until 2022
- Published
Former Wales international Ian Watson has won 69 of his 143 matches in charge of Salford
Salford head coach Ian Watson has signed a new contract to keep him with the Super League club until 2022.
The 43-year-old guided the Red Devils, who were relegation candidates, to last season's Super League Grand Final where they lost 23-6 to St Helens.
It was the first time the club had reached the Grand Final and their best finish since 1976.
Watson was also an assistant coach for the 2019 Great Britain Lions tour to New Zealand Tonga and Papua New Guinea.
Having been put in interim charge towards the end of 2015 Watson was given the role on a full-time basis ahead of the start of the 2016 season.
"I'm ambitious and I want to win things," Watson told the club website.
"To do that, you've got to build foundations and have them in place.
"The club are showing that they want to go in that direction."
Head of strength and conditioning Greg Brown has also agreed a new two-year extension at the AJ Bell Stadium.
"The is probably the most significant deal I've done in my time at the club," Salford director of rugby and operations Ian Blease told the club website.
"I truly believe we've got the best head coach in Super League and the best head of strength and conditioning.
"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."