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James Webster (born 11 July 1979) is an Australian professional
rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...
football coach who was the head coach of the
Featherstone Rovers Featherstone Rovers are a professional rugby league club in Featherstone, West Yorkshire, England, who play in the Championship (rugby league), Championship. Featherstone is a former coal mining town with a population of around 16,000 and Rover ...
in the
Betfred Championship The Championship, known as the Betfred Championship for sponsorship reasons, is a professional rugby league competition. It is the second-tier competition organised by the Rugby Football League, the governing body for the sport in England, ...
, and a former professional player. He was previously of the
Wakefield Trinity Wildcats Wakefield Trinity is a professional rugby league club in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, that plays in the Super League. One of the original twenty-two clubs that formed the Rugby Football League, Northern Rugby Football Union in 1895, betw ...
and
Hull Kingston Rovers Hull Kingston Rovers are a professional rugby league club based in Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, England, that competes in the Super League, the top tier of British rugby league. The club has won five league championships, and one Challeng ...
. Webster played as a or in the
National Rugby League The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...
for Australian clubs
Balmain Tigers The Balmain Tigers (also known as the Sydney Tigers from 1995–96) are a rugby league club based in the inner-western Sydney suburb of Balmain. They were a founding member of the New South Wales Rugby League and one of the most successful in t ...
and
Parramatta Eels The Parramatta Eels are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Sydney suburb of Parramatta that competes in the National Rugby League. The Parramatta District Rugby League Football Club was formed in 1947, and their ...
. He then played in the
Super League The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of wh ...
for
Hull Kingston Rovers Hull Kingston Rovers are a professional rugby league club based in Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, England, that competes in the Super League, the top tier of British rugby league. The club has won five league championships, and one Challeng ...
,
Hull F.C. Hull Football Club, commonly referred to as Hull or Hull F.C., is a professional rugby league football club established in 1865 and based in West Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The club plays in the Super League competition and were ...
and the
Widnes Vikings The Widnes Vikings are an English rugby league club in Widnes, Cheshire, which competes in the Betfred Championship. The club plays home matches at the Halton Stadium. Founded as Widnes Football Club, they are one of the original twenty-two rug ...
. Webster stayed in England after retiring from playing and became a coach.


Background

Webster was born in
Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
, New South Wales, Australia. He is the older brother of former rugby league footballer and current
New Zealand Warriors The New Zealand Warriors are a professional rugby league football club based in Auckland, New Zealand that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership and is the League's only team from outside Australia. They were formed in 1995 as ...
head coach, Andrew Webster


Playing career


Balmain Tigers

Webster played
rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...
in his home town of
Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
for Balmain. Webster played in Balmain's final ever match as a first grade side, a 42–14 loss against Canberra. Balmain then went on to merge with fellow foundation club Western Suburbs as part of the NRL rationalisation policy.


Parramatta Eels

Webster then moved to the
Parramatta Eels The Parramatta Eels are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Sydney suburb of Parramatta that competes in the National Rugby League. The Parramatta District Rugby League Football Club was formed in 1947, and their ...
, making 22 appearances in his time with Parramatta.


Hull Kingston Rovers

Webster was released from
Hull Kingston Rovers Hull Kingston Rovers are a professional rugby league club based in Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, England, that competes in the Super League, the top tier of British rugby league. The club has won five league championships, and one Challeng ...
on 2 May 2008.


Hull FC

Webster eventually joined rivals Hull. After only one game in a black and white jersey - Webster was released from his contract.


Widnes Vikings

It was then announced he had signed a two-year contract with Widnes. He joined National League One side
Widnes Widnes ( ) is an Industrial city, industrial town in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England, which at the 2011 United Kingdom census, 2011 census had a population of 61,464. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, it is on t ...
for the 2009 season.


Coaching career


Hull FC

Webster turned his back on his playing career to focus on his coaching role with former club Hull, when he returned to the black and whites as Assistant Coach in 2010. He worked closely alongside Head Coach
Richard Agar Richard Agar (born 20 January 1972) is an English professional rugby league coach who is the former head coach of the Leeds Rhinos in the Super League and a former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. He play ...
and fellow Assistant Coach Andy Last in his first major coaching opportunity, whilst he is also involved in the development of other young coaches with the Rugby Football League. In early 2014, Webster was playing for amateur rugby club Hornsea RUFC, he earned one cap and also offered coaching support.


Wakefield Trinity Wildcats

On 2 June 2014, Webster replaced the
Wakefield Trinity Wildcats Wakefield Trinity is a professional rugby league club in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, that plays in the Super League. One of the original twenty-two clubs that formed the Rugby Football League, Northern Rugby Football Union in 1895, betw ...
head coach Richard Agar as the new head coach of the
Super League The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of wh ...
club. On 19 May 2015, Webster left
Wakefield Trinity Wildcats Wakefield Trinity is a professional rugby league club in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, that plays in the Super League. One of the original twenty-two clubs that formed the Rugby Football League, Northern Rugby Football Union in 1895, betw ...
.


Hull Kingston Rovers

In March 2016, Webster was named Interim Coach of
Hull Kingston Rovers Hull Kingston Rovers are a professional rugby league club based in Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, England, that competes in the Super League, the top tier of British rugby league. The club has won five league championships, and one Challeng ...
replacing the sacked Chris Chester. Webster became the assistant coach at
Hull Kingston Rovers Hull Kingston Rovers are a professional rugby league club based in Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, England, that competes in the Super League, the top tier of British rugby league. The club has won five league championships, and one Challeng ...
when he was replaced by
Tim Sheens Tim Sheens (born 30 October 1950) is an Australian professional rugby league football coach and former player. Head Coach of the Australia national team between 2009 and 2015, he has also been the head coach of National Rugby League (NRL) clubs ...
as head coach from the 2017 season.


Featherstone Rovers

In October 2019, was named head coach of
Featherstone Rovers Featherstone Rovers are a professional rugby league club in Featherstone, West Yorkshire, England, who play in the Championship (rugby league), Championship. Featherstone is a former coal mining town with a population of around 16,000 and Rover ...
replacing Ryan Carr who return home to Australia. Webster guided Featherstone to the 2021
Million Pound Game Million Pound Game (stylized as £1M Game) was an annual playoff final rugby league game that decides which Championship team will be promoted to Super League the following season. Between 2015 and 2018, the game was played as part of The Qualif ...
where they lost against
Toulouse Olympique Toulouse Olympique or TO XIII is a professional rugby league club in Toulouse, south-west France. Founded in 1937, two years after the French Rugby League Federation, the club is a six-time winner of the French Rugby League Championship. The cl ...
. On 22 October 2021, he stood down from the role as head coach at Featherstone by mutual consent.


References


External links


Hull KR profile
* (archived by web.archive.org
Hull Kingston Rovers ~ Captains
{{DEFAULTSORT:Webster, James 1979 births Living people Australian rugby league coaches Australian rugby league players Australian expatriate sportspeople in England Balmain Tigers players Featherstone Rovers coaches Hull F.C. players Hull Kingston Rovers coaches Hull Kingston Rovers players Parramatta Eels players Rugby league halfbacks Rugby league players from Sydney Wakefield Trinity coaches Widnes Vikings players