John Duffy

July 2017 to November 2018

John Duffy arrived with a reputation as a bright young coach who had done a good job at Swinton, where with limited resources, he had got them playing an attractive brand of rugby.  His brief at Rovers was to improve the teams attacking flair particularly in the more difficult fixtures.  His first match in charge was the last league fixture of the 2017 campaign and he was then straight into the super 8 qualifiers with a place in super league the prize.  He was able to strengthen the squad a little and Rovers did perform better than in 2016 by managing a win against Halifax and a draw at London. However, thrashings were handed out by super league Widnes and Warrington but the team did produce a good performance away at Catalans Dragons losing 26 – 12. 

For 2018, Duffy was able to shape the squad to suit his style of play particularly at half-back where Tom Holmes and Martin Ridyard looked an exciting duo. Unfortunately with injuries this combination did not feature as much as Duffy and fans hoped.  With 6 clubs realistically battling for the top four spots competition was fierce.  Rovers weren’t quite able to win the games that mattered and finished a slightly disappointing sixth. The season finished with 9 straight wins resulting in victory in the Championship Shield although Duffy had to contend with Rovers struggling to have 17 players available as the season ended.

Duffy who had originally arrived on a one year contract had agreed an extension to his contract until the end of the 2020 season.  In November 2018, however, this was abruptly terminated when it emerged that he was discussing taking over at Leigh, a club he had played for nearly 200 games.  After leaving Rovers he duly took over at Leigh.

2017: Won 1 Drew 1 Lost 6 = 18.75%

2018: Won 21 Drew 0 Lost 8 = 76.47%

Total: Won 27 Drew 1 Lost 14 = 65.48%