Dewsbury Rams newly announced assistant head coach Jack Howieson is ready to get started at the Rams.
Howieson a former Sheffield Eagles players, played in South Yorkshire for 13 seasons and eventually captained Mark Aston’s side. After retiring in 2013 he took a small break from the sport before being put in charge of League One side Hemel Stags. Howieson has now joined up with head coach Lee Greenwood and is looking to a bright 2020 season.
On joining the club Howieson said: “I have played here lots of times and it’s always been a tough place to come with it being a small pitch. I also know my way around from the time we trained here with Hemel, so yes it’s an impressive place.
“We always used to talk about the size of the pitch, at Sheffield we had lots of flair players and so with that we liked to play on a nice big pitch. However as a player myself being a middle unit I enjoyed coming here because it was always a tough battle.
“It is great that you own the place and that you have all these great facilities, that is a massive draw in itself. There is no need to be going to five or six places when you have it all here and that is much better for coaches and players.
Whilst not having met Lee Greenwood many times before taking the role on, the two have met on a number of occasions on the field as Howieson has played against Greenwood. The 38 year old insists that whilst he has his own ideas about how the game should be played, he is looking forward to helping Greenwood implement his ideas and come up with a strategy to go into the 2020 campaign with.
He said: “I have played against Lee quite a lot, when he was at Halifax we versed each other a bit, I know people who know him and they speak very highly of him. I only met him the once before coming here however we have spoken on the phone quite a lot and whenever I have spoken to him I like him a lot, he has got a vision for the club. He has really sold the club to me, I have had a look around and I am very impressed with things.
“I have got my own philosophies about how the game should be played, my main role is to help Lee though implement his philosophy and back him and then chip in where I can and make suggestions. I will probably work with the forwards quite a lot I am very keen for players to play with the ball a little bit.”
Finally Howieson spoke about his love for the game and coaching and talked us through his journey so far.
He commented: “I was born in Hemel Hempstead and played my junior rugby there before moving up to Sheffield. I ended up playing at Sheffield Eagles for 13 years and captained the club, I retired in 2013 from playing and had a few years out from rugby and then came back.
“I coached Hemel Stags not last year but the year before that, I always wanted to be a coach, I have my own sports coaching company. Being from Hemel there wasn’t a lot of coaches in the area and so I was always involved in the junior set up helping out from the age of 15/16. I have always wanted to be involved in coaching and then when I went to Sheffield I was involved with it there too.
“I talked to Mark Aston about how he played, he gave advice which was great, although it’s different having to make all the final decisions.
“When you are from a development area you have to learn about the game as you don’t get to play it from a young age really in schools. When you do start playing for a club you have to do a bit of research into the sport and learn about rugby league and not just learn how to play rugby. Over the years I have tried to carry that on and learn more about the sport and studied it a lot.”
