COUGARS head coach Jake Webster has confirmed his contract for the role is “indefinite”, while the former New Zealand international insists he is up for a challenge many in the dugout would run a mile from.
With co-owners Ryan O’Neill and Kaue Garcia announcing he would continue as the club’s first team boss at the end of the season, Webster and chief operations officer Steve Watkinson told the Keighley News that there is no fixed end date to his deal.
But on top of that, Webster will remain as Keighley’s director of rugby, which was his title at the club before head coach Matt Foster was sacked in July.
It seems a huge ask for a rookie to juggle those off-field operations while also trying to guide Keighley to promotion in around 11 months’ time via the new ‘Super Eights’ system.
But Webster, who was speaking to us at the Treehouse Bar & Kitchen in Haworth last Wednesday ahead of his players returning to pre-season training earlier this week, is backing himself.
He said: “People say it’s a big ask, but there’s no middleman now, so I have no excuses.
“Steve has taken a lot of the director role on to help me out, to have those conversations when it gets to the grit of finances, because that could lead to a conflict of interest if I’m talking money with a player, when I’m his head coach asking him for blood, sweat and tears too.
“I’m grateful for what Steve is doing, but I don’t see performing both roles as a burden at all.”
But Webster insists it was by no means a done deal that the head coach role was his following the end of the season.
He said: “We spoke to a lot of coaches, and we were on the hunt to find a new one.
“Ryan and Kaue had their ideas and they asked me to merge my role, with a few reasons behind that.
“They talked to the players to get their views, but it wasn’t just that.
“They also want to make sure we’re sustainable long-term, to keep cohesion in the playing group, to make sure there’s not too much change.
“We’ve had a lot of change over the last two years, so to get some stability back will be good for the players and the club.
“It wasn’t at the forefront of my mind to become head coach permanently and I had wanted to take some time away, but I really enjoyed the interim job in the second half of last season.
“And every time I’ve left the field, it’s always led me back, because that’s home for me.
“The contract’s indefinite really, it’s not forever, but it’s a step in the direction for where I want to take the next part of my career.”
Webster’s primary goal in the immediate future is to lead Keighley to promotion, which will be done via the Super Eights in 2025.
The bottom four in the Betfred Championship will face the top four in League 1 once each, with the top three in that mini-table ending up in the second tier for the following season.
That uneven split is so the two divisions can finally both have 12 teams apiece in 2026.
Giving his thoughts on the system, Webster said: “I know a lot of people that played in Super Eights when there was that format between Super League and the Championship.
“It is quite stressful and very, very intense, from what I’ve been told.
“But that’s a long way away, we just have to make sure we’re in the top four first.
“We’ll attack that goal and we’ll build the squad accordingly during the year, adding to it if we need to, and we have the means to do that.
“We want to get into those Super Eights, as it’s an exciting thing for rugby league.
“At the other end of the stick, it’s quite scary, because a lot of players rely on the rugby league money coming in, so you want to be in the Championship.
“There’s a lot of pressure, but then with pressure you make diamonds.”
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here