BY JOHN DAVIDSON
Exclusive: Former Swinton coach Alan Kilshaw has commented on the RFL’s investigation into him, as he takes up a position with the Oakey Bears in Queensland.
Kilshaw has been the subject of an RFL investigation after Widnes made a complaint following a match against the Lions in July, when Vikings player Nick Gregson alleged on X that a photo of himself with a noose around his neck was put up in the Swinton dressing room. Gregson also claimed that Kilshaw directed his players to target his injured shoulder during the match.
Widnes lodged a complaint with the RFL who investigated, with a tribunal into his conduct expected to finally take place this month after delays.
Kilshaw has always refuted the allegations and Gregson has since deleted his posts on X. The Lions boss resigned from Swinton following the end of the Championship season and will now join Oakey in Toomwooba for the 2025 campaign.
Kilshaw told rugbyleaguehub.com Long Reads: “There has been dialogue with the RFL through my legal representative and I believe there will be a sensible outcome agreed very soon.
“I don’t want to comment on it too much. It was disappointing people have commented and misrepresented me and it happened without having the full facts.
“It could have been dealt with away from social media but that should be a lesson for the people involved. It seems that the truth and facts aren’t important anymore.
“This was commented on by people involved with the club [Widnes] on social media as well, which added fuel to the fire.
“I was subjected to abuse, which I am still, and have been targeted by a small minority of Widnes fans and my teenage son suffered abuse with my wife and younger children also put under strain.
“Not once was the question asked was it him? Or could it have been someone else who produced this [the photo], or to what context was it in? It was trial by social media.
“The support I received from many head coaches and senior figures in the game across both hemispheres was something I will always be grateful for.
“I was also given well wishes from opposition supporters at every away ground I visited following the Widnes game in July, which obviously is away from the clickbait and vile comments you see on the social media platforms.
“My character isn’t on trial but they attack it. Obviously, I can’t go into the details but everyone has been very quick to make presumptions.
“It seems that reporting the truth isn’t important anymore. What I can say is it has taken a toll on my family. My parents are in their 70s and they’ve had to see a lot of things written about me.
“My wife has also had to see some really nasty things on social media.
“Then I have a son who’s in year 11 who was targeted at school and then the RFL leaked the date of the tribunal before we were even told and this falls on the first week back in school for him, which was a genuine mistake which they apologized for, but brings it all back up for him after a six week summer holiday.
“My youngest children are in nursery and staff have seen stuff on socials and commented on it in there.”
Kilshaw quit Swinton in mid-October following the club’s relegation to League 1, after the playoff loss to Hunslet.
A former St Helens junior and Warrington youth development coach, he coached England Youth and Academy from 2011 to 2013. Kilshaw has also spent time coaching Rochdale Hornets and Hunslet in the Championship and League 1.
“Coaching at Championship and League 1 level is certainly getting tougher,” he admitted.
“There has been a big cut in funding in the last few years and you are working with a skeleton staff and small resources. Unless you’re full-time and a well-established club or at a club who are willing to put some serious investment in, then your up against it.
“This is all part of the challenge and I’m grateful for every opportunity I have had but that stuff has an effect on your day-to-day. You often find you’re not doing as much coaching as you would like with a lot of day-to-day stuff taking you away from that.
“You end up negotiating contracts, dealing with agents, ringing around for facilities, taking equipment from one venue to another and you have 25 players and medical and coaching staff to manage on top of that.
“It’s relentless at times – 35 competitive games Swinton played last season as well starting in January and finishing up in late October – that’s some going with a full-time job and family on top.
“Me leaving Swinton wasn’t a reaction thing – I have been communicating this to the people around me during the season. I won’t make the reasons public but I’m content with the decision.
“Swinton are a good club with some very good people involved. I’m disappointed we couldn’t win the playoff but that’s football sometimes.
“In the playoff we had no Hall, Lepori, Badrock, Rodden, Spedding or Ritson who have all featured regularly and I know first-hand how tough that Hunslet side was going to be.
“I had recruited the majority of the team that beat us and brought Beharrell and Render back out of the amateur game – talk about falling on your sword!
“Hunslet deserve a crack and Dean has done a great job there in his first season. Swinton’s nine wins and 12th-place finish would have been enough to stay up for the previous four seasons, we actually did better than the season before with the same amount of league wins and progressing further in the cups.
“We had someone sign for Super League and a number of players picked off by the top five Championship clubs. It’s easy to look at things in isolation sometimes but it wasn’t a bad campaign, just sad how it ended considering we had several games where we lost by two points.
“We beat Fev twice, Sheffield at Sheffield, Toulouse in France, Widnes in the cup and the league, Halifax home and away – they were some major scalps for us.
“It was a turbulent season for many reasons but one that has taught me a lot about myself and a lot about other people. It’s all part of the journey – I’ve just turned 42 which is young in coaching terms.
“I’m probably not even at half-time yet (in my career). I’ve coached 200-plus first-grade games and done around 13 seasons now.
“The next job was really important to me. I had interest and offers in the UK but it had to be something that stood out and that’s where Oakey provided that opportunity – one I’m determined to be successful at.”
Oakey play in the Toowoomba Rugby League competition, in south Queensland, 132 kilometres west of Brisbane. It is run by the Queensland Rugby League Central Division.
Kilshaw has coached in Australia before, with Sarina Crocodiles and as an assistant coach with Mackay Cutters in the Queensland Cup. He will move down under in January to start as the Bears director of coaching and development.
“It’s not just one reason [for the move], it’s multiple factors,” he said.
“I just feel the time is right now for the family and myself to emigrate. Rugby league has given us a platform to emigrate and experience an amazing lifestyle and place to live and the coaching opportunity is one I couldn’t turn down.
“There is obviously more coaching opportunities in Australia and the sport in Australia, particularly in Queensland and NSW, is number one so that all adds weight to my reasons.
“I will be heading up the first-grade team in the Toowoomba comp and having a broader role overseeing the whole programme from Under-13s to first-grade. The club has age groups from Under-7s all the way to seniors and women’s and there are local pathways through the Clydesdales and that will feed into the Brisbane Broncos system.
“For me the opportunity to build the whole club up from the bottom with some strong backing is a huge appeal. The stature of the comp in Queensland and how well-resourced it is provides a big challenge but one I’m excited about.
“The club has been brilliant from our initial conversation, they have worked tirelessly to make it happen and I’m very humbled and determined to repay their faith.
“Hopefully we can achieve finals and beyond. I have a three-year deal and it won’t come overnight but we are recruiting aggressively and have put some really strong pillars in place off the field.”
The RFL has been approached for comment.
