Paul Deacon lifts lid on ‘gutting and sad’ Sale exit as he gives his ‘100 percent’ prediction for the Sharks

When Paul Deacon was shown the door by Sale at the end of last season, by his own admission he was “gutted” and “saddened”.

The former rugby league star, who enjoyed a glittering career at Bradford Bulls and Wigan Warriors, had spent 10 years at the Sharks as attack coach.

He served under two directors of rugby – Steve Diamond and Alex Sanderson – and even had a brief spell in the top job when Diamond left the club in December 2020.

Different direction

But Deacon’s contract was not renewed at the end of last term and Joe Ford – elder brother of Sale and England fly-half George – was appointed as his successor.

Deacon recently rejoined Wigan Warriors in a short-term coaching role until the end of the current Super League season and is enjoying being back at his hometown club, where he began his coaching career.

When asked about his departure from Sale, the 46-year-old revealed: “It was Sale’s decision.

“My contract was up at the end of the season and they decided to go in a different direction.

“I’ll not lie, I was a little bit gutted and saddened by it but 10 years is a long time to be at one club.

“It’s probably been good for me to move as well if I’m being truly honest.

“I’ve no hard feelings against Sale whatsoever and it was amicable, but it was their choice.”

Deacon has returned to his native code a far better coach for his experience at Sale.

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“Without a doubt, and that was one of the reasons for coaching in rugby union – to make me better,” he explained.

“You gain experience, you coach with different coaches, see how they get their messages across and the philosophies they have.

“You take bits from them all and I’ve tried to do that all my career, both as a player and a coach.

“I learnt a lot from working under Steve Diamond and Alex Sanderson but I learned most from the players because they’re the ones at the coalface doing it on the field.

“I coached players such as Danny Cipriani, Faf de Klerk, George Ford and the Curry twins.

“I’ve seen the Currys come through the Academy to play for England and obviously Tom has become a hugely influential player for the British and Irish Lions.

“The list goes on and there are so many players I could mention who helped to bring me on as a coach because, a lot of the time, the best players challenge you.

“They want to know why we are doing certain things and that’s a challenge as a coach as well but I like that because you learn from it.”

Sale have not won the Premiership since their solitary title success under Philippe Saint-Andre in 2006.

But Deacon believes they are well placed to kick on under Sanderson and the ambitious ownership of Ged Mason and Simon Orange.

Premiership title

He said: “100 percent, I do. In the last five years, we’ve been in four semi-finals and one final but we didn’t get over the line.

“That was very disappointing because I would’ve loved to have achieved a Premiership title at Sale.

“But with the ownership of the club now, with Simon Orange taking the lead on that with his wife Michelle, they’re driven to be champions at some point.

“I definitely feel Sale have the potential to achieve that, absolutely.”

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