Ken Davy on 'strongest Huddersfield Giants squad', successful Super League stint and early IMG impressions

The 82-year-old has flirted with success since rescuing the club from the brink of extinction in 1996.

Huddersfield won the League Leaders' Shield in 2013 but a major trophy continues to elude the Giants, a club that have suffered their fair share of Challenge Cup pain during Davy's tenure.

The pain of a third defeat in the decider still lingers, yet that heartbreaking loss to Wigan Warriors at Tottenham could ultimately be the making of the Giants under Watson.

The club's reaction has been to arm Watson with one of the strongest and deepest squads in Super League.

"It is undoubtedly the strongest squad I've seen during my time at the club," Davy told The Yorkshire Post.

"We had a good squad last year and have certainly had some excellent squads in the past – but we have definitely never had a stronger squad in my 27-year involvement with Huddersfield Giants.

"We got so very close in the Challenge Cup last year. We were two minutes short but it's an 80-minute game so we've got to dust ourselves off and be ready to take advantage of the opportunities this year.

"The squad we've got are determined to bring home some silverware and Ian Watson is absolutely the man to get the players to that point.

"Ian has a unique skill of being able to get the best out of players. His individual man management and the way he is able to challenge players is excellent."

It is a welcome return to normality for Davy after a testing period as Super League's interim chairman.

His biggest challenge after taking the reins in March 2021 in the wake of Robert Elstone's departure was to bring a fractured sport together and take away the power from clubs that had encouraged perceived self-interest.

Working with the Strategic Working Party, Davy's answer was to realign Super League and the Rugby Football League with the help of RL Commercial, which will focus on driving revenue and making the game more sustainable.

"It's fair to say there was an element of disarray," said Davy.

"I don't want to overplay that but the game was divided. Whilst some people wanted to bring it back together again, not everybody did.

"It was hundreds of hours of sometimes painful negotiations but, importantly, everything went through unanimously. Unanimous votes in rugby league are not common.

"It was a frenetic two years and, frankly, a much more difficult task than I imagined. There were so many different views within Super League itself and a lot of different views within the game overall."

As part of the changes, the Super League Board has been reduced to two independent directors who will represent the interests of the clubs.

"As a united game going forward, we're going to be able to appeal much more successfully to our television partners and corporate partners and generally take advantage of the opportunities the game has," added Davy, who has pledged that every pound of income will be shared throughout the sport.

"We all know what a fantastic spectacle the game is. The main role of Super League clubs is to put a spectacle on the pitch that attracts bigger and better audiences. That's where their real strengths lie.

"The argument over exactly the best way of doing that is best taken away from the clubs and put into the kind of structure we've created. It means they aren't going to be debating the game every month and are now going to be able to focus on putting the best product on the pitch."

Davy's stint as Super League chairman will perhaps be best remembered for the deal that brought IMG on board.

With the help of the global sports management giant, Davy believes the sport is in a better position to get an improved TV deal at the end of this year to push the game forward.

"I definitely think we are," he said.

"The partnership with IMG will play a very important part. Our broadcast partners can now see the game is united, optimistic and really well placed to grow over the next few years.

"If I was a television company, I'd want to capture that and promote it for all its worth.

"What everybody agrees is that live sport on television is the most attractive element of TV. It's consistently successful.

"We can provide content for broadcasters that is absolutely unique. As is often said, it's only live once. To attend a match or see it live on television is a unique occasion. Nobody knows the outcome.

"What we deliver in Super League is exactly that: one of the most exciting, if not the most exciting sport on the planet in a family-friendly environment and has a broad appeal across the marketplace. That has to be attractive to broadcasters."

IMG officials are still getting their feet under the table but major change is coming, most significantly in the shape of a new grading system which will bring about the end of automatic promotion and relegation between Super League and the Championship.

Although the parameters have yet to be outlined, Davy is happy to follow IMG's lead.

"We've unanimously backed the partnership with IMG so have signed up as a game to support their recommendations," he said.

"I've not seen any details and don't have an inside track. There will undoubtedly be some things not all of us are happy with but we've got to back their judgement as marketing professionals in the sport.

"I'm very encouraged so far. They have a vested interest in the success of the whole project. The more the game grows, the more IMG will benefit."

Huddersfield are already starting to notice a difference off the field, helped by a strong season in 2022.

"One of the things that's interesting from an IMG perspective is that our digital and social media interest has increased dramatically," added Davy.

"We're literally millions ahead of where we were in 2021 and we expect that to go further forward in this coming year.

"We've got increased shirt sales, a number of corporate elements are sold out and we've got more season ticket card holders. We're feeling very optimistic at Huddersfield Giants."

The holy grail for rugby league is to have a national profile and platform.

Davy is convinced that the game will one day fulfil its ambition and potential.

"Yes it can be done and IMG are certainly the people to do that," he said.

"What they have access to is all the data; a lot of data that we don't see, they have. One of the things their analysis has shown is the strong support for rugby league in London, not withstanding that there hasn't yet been a really successful London club.

"It will be very interesting to see how that develops. It's exciting."

After helping to usher in a new era for the sport, Davy will watch the next phase from afar. He looks back with pride on his two years at the helm.

"I'm pleased we managed to achieve such an outstanding result," said Davy.

"It was a job which looked impossible at the outset and for the first couple of months seemed to be going backwards rather than forwards.

"From a game perspective, it is an absolutely outstanding result to have brought the game back together again, to create a joint company to which all the assets of the game have gone and to establish a partnership with IMG which is really going to add value to the game.

"Those are the three things that stand out.”