"Honestly, Terrified": Hudson Reflects on Director of Rugby Award Nomination

Congratulations on the nomination. What was your reaction when you found out you'd been shortlisted?

"Terrified," Hudson laughed. "Honestly, terrified.

"You don't do this job for recognition. People see the media interviews and the matchdays, but 90 to 95 per cent of what a head coach does happens behind the scenes. That's probably how most of us like it.

"The idea of being recognised is a little bit uncomfortable because it means talking about yourself, explaining yourself and getting emotional about what you've done.

"But when I thought about it more, what made me comfortable with it was that I wouldn't be accepting it as Tom Hudson. I'd be accepting it as the leader of a crew. We've got around 19 members of staff and 52 players who have all contributed to taking this club forward and helping build a genuine northern force in the PWR.

"Any recognition like this belongs to all of them."

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Looking back on the season, what's the moment you're most proud of and why?

"The Bristol game at home stands out," he said.

"We were under a little bit of pressure because we'd put together a few wins and suddenly people expected us to win. Winning when you're the underdog is one thing, but winning when you're the favourite is completely different.

"What I loved about that week was the preparation. If we could copy and paste one week and use it as our model going forward, it would probably be that one. The way we trained, the way we prepared and then the way we performed felt like everything came together.

"That said, so much of the hard work was actually done before Christmas when results weren't going our way. We kept believing in what we were building, even when the wins weren't coming. The staff and players stayed consistent, trusted the process and never let standards slip.

"Without that belief during the difficult periods, we don't have the Bristol week."

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What do you think has been the key to your development or form this season?

"Alignment," Hudson said.

"We changed almost everything. We changed coaches, brought in new players, challenged mindsets, changed training standards, GPS metrics and even how we measured success.

"Normally that much change can make alignment difficult, but credit has to go to the people behind the scenes who drove that. The transformation people have seen on the pitch has come from a huge amount of work off it.

"By around Christmas, or maybe just after, we started to see everyone pulling in the same direction. Once that happened, things began to click.

"The success this season has been built on everybody buying into the same vision."

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If you could describe your season in three words, what would they be?

"Learning, consistency and privilege.

"We've learned so much this season. There have been challenges, setbacks and successes, and we've grown through all of them.

"Consistency is another big one. From the outside it might look like we had two completely different halves of a season, but internally the standards, the energy and the commitment stayed remarkably consistent throughout.

"And finally, privilege. It's a privilege to work hard for this rugby club every day. It's a privilege to be trusted to help lead change and to be part of something that's bigger than any one individual.

"That's something I never take for granted."

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Finally, what would winning this award mean to the club?

"I think it would validate what so many people have been building over the last five years," Hudson said.

"This season hasn't been the start of the journey - it's part of the journey. There have been a lot of people who laid the foundations long before this year, and there are people still here who have lived through the difficult times as well as the good ones.

"If we win this award, it wouldn't just belong to the people here now. It would belong to everyone who helped build the programme to this point.

"We talk a lot about the upward trend we're on, and that's important. But I think it's equally important to recognise the players and staff who helped start that trend.

"If it gave those people confidence that their hard work mattered and that the progress started while they were here, then that would mean a lot."