Jon Sharp

Jon Sharp (born 8 March 1977) is the Head of the Match Officials Department of the Rugby Football League; he replaced Stuart Cummings when he resigned from the position. Between 2004 and 2008 he was head coach of Huddersfield Giants,^[1] having been appointed in 2003 when Tony Smith left the club for Leeds Rhinos. He was also part of the Great Britain coaching set-up under head coach Brian Noble. As a player he played for Hull, and he has also worked as a member of the backroom staff there.

Hull FC

Played Loose Forward for Hull FC. Popular player with the supporters who use to sing...

Jon Sharp, Jon Sharp,

Jonny Jonny Sharp,

He's got no hair but we don't care,

Jonny Jonny Sharp

Testimonial match

Jon Sharp's Testimonial match at Hull took place in 1994.

Huddersfield Giants

2004-2005

In 2004, Sharp's debut season as coach of the Huddersfield Giants the club finished 7th in Super League and made an appearance in the Semi Finals of the Challenge Cup for the first time since 1971. The team lost to St Helens. In 2005 the club signed Michael De Vere from Brisbane Broncoes, the highest profile Australian signer since the 1950s. The team finished in 8th place.

2006

in 2006, Sharp led Huddersfield to their first Challenge Cup final in over 40 years, including a 30-12 win over Leeds Rhinos in the semi finals held at Odsal. Huddersfield lost in the final 42-12 against favourites St Helens.

2007

After a nightmare start to 2007's Super League XII in which the Giants lost all of their opening 7 games, some might have expected Sharp's job to be under threat. However, the Giants' faith was repaid when Sharp led the team from 5 points adrift at the bottom to being 4th in Super League after, winning a club record 7 along the way including a first win over Bradford in 35 years. Sharp won consecutive Coach of the Month awards in April and May as a result. The club made their first appearance in the Play Off competition losing to Hull at the KC Stadium, 22-16.

2008

The opening 2 matches in 2008 were lost, to Leeds Rhinos and to Bradford Bulls. However the 3rd match saw Sharp's team beat Castleford Tigers 64-12. After a 48-0 loss to Catalan Dragons and a run of disappointing results, Sharp's contract was terminated by the Giants and for the 2009 season, Nathan Brown, former coach at St. George Illawarra Dragons, took over the helm. He then moved to Featherstone Rovers in a voluntary advisory role to caretaker coach Danny Evans.

2009

In 2009, Sharp joined his former club Hull as 'football operations manager', working alongside head coach Richard Agar. However, the partnership didn't work out as Hull slipped to a disappointing 12th place finish, and Sharp left the club at the end of the year.

2010

In October 2009, Sharp was appointed as first team coach for Crusaders Rugby League, where he will link up with former Great Britain colleague Brian Noble (Head coach) and assistant coach Iestyn Harris.

2011

In February 2011, it was confirmed that Sharp had joined the Rugby Football League on a consultancy basis as a technical adviser. As a Technical Adviser he will offer a coach's perspective of playing trends to match officials, as well as serving on the Rugby Football League disciplinary panel.

References