There was a time all Salford boss Paul Rowley wanted to do was win for Tony Smith but things are very different now.
His Red Devils side take on Smith’s Hull FC on Saturday, more than 20 years after he played for the Australian in Huddersfield colours. England hooker Rowley joined them from Halifax after the 2000 World Cup. However, despite improving vastly under the upcoming Smith and having their best Super League season in 2001, Huddersfield suffered relegation. Rowley quickly moved to home town Leigh the following year but admits he learned plenty from a coach who went on to win Grand Finals with Leeds, Challenge Cups at Warrington and also lead Great Britain.
He said: "There’s definitely things from Tony I took into my own coaching career. It’s more man-management than anything. I felt that he managed me really well at that point (in 2001). I had a commitment to him personally when I played there that I wanted to win for him. It’s not always the case and that’s quite a strong emotion when you want to play for your coach. Tony has a knack of doing that and that’s probably the main thing I took from him.”
