James Webster

October 2019 to October 2021

Born in Sydney, James Webster arrived in England to play scrum-half for Hull KR in 2005. His playing career in Australia had stalled after starting with Balmain, and then a stint at Parramatta. At Hull KR he was club captain and won promotion to Super League in 2006.  A serious shoulder injury in 2008 led him to be released from his contract and he had two seasons at Widnes before retiring.

His coaching career started at Hull FC as assistant to head coach Richard Agar. When Agar moved to Wakefield, Webster moved with him and when Agar was sacked in 2014 Webster took over as head coach, lasting a year before being duly sacked himself. He was interim head coach at Hull KR before the arrival of Tim Sheens, and then became Sheen’s assistant in 2016.

After the return to Australia of Ryan Carr, James Webster was appointed Featherstone Rovers head coach in October 2019, after leaving his role as assistant coach of Hull KR to take up the job.  Rovers had assembled a strong squad for the 2020 campaign, but his first season in charge lasted only six matches (all won) when Covid-19 restrictions resulted in the season being cancelled. Webster spent the rest of the year helping out Agar at Leeds Rhinos.

2021 began in similarly impressive fashion with 13 consecutive league wins saw Rovers neck-and-neck with Toulouse at the top of the table. Both sides duly met in the Grand Final, held in Toulouse after the French club inflicted Rovers only league defeat at Post Office Road in August. Defeat in the final led to a parting of ways, and Webster departed with the remarkable record of having won 31 of his 34 games in charge.

2020: Won 6 Drew 0 Lost 0 = 100%

2021: Won 25 Drew 0 Lost 3 = 89.28%

Total: Won 31 Drew 0 Lost 3 = 91.18%