Daryl Powell: ‘The players have to sort their heads out’

Warrington coach Daryl Powell demanded his players “sort their heads out” after they suffered a 16-12 Challenge Cup defeat to Wakefield at the Halliwell Jones stadium.

The loss was Warrington’s fourth in succession. They were defeated 38-22 in Super League by the same opponents a week earlier.

The Wolves raced into an early 12-0 lead thanks to tries from Connor Wrench and Josh Thewlis. However, Trinity roared back to set up a quarter-final tie against Wigan.

Powell said: “We were ok for 20 minutes, which is a common theme. Then we get put under pressure and we can’t handle it.

“We’ve had a good chat after the game about player accountability and about what we are delivering and the players have to sort their heads out.

“Our defence is incredibly soft and we get rattled so easily. I don’t think at any point this season we have handled being put under pressure.

Daryl Powell: ‘We have to sort it out as a group’

Powell continued: “We had a great start again today and the players have got to get a grip of their heads. I feel like I’m butting heads with some of them about the way we want to play. We are not delivering on both sides of the ball and we have to get a grip of it.

“It’s still early enough in the season to fix it up. We have had an honest chat that what we are serving up is not good enough and we have to do something about it.

“We have to become a team which we are not at the moment, because a team becomes strong when under pressure and we don’t.

“We’ve lost four games straight and we have to become stronger because of the adversity we are facing.

“We have no players playing consistently well and the players know that and we have to turn it round quickly.

“We are all accountable for the performances, which aren’t good enough. I think we have to sort it out as a group. There’s no excuses for not performing well it’s what we get paid for.”

Challenge Cup: Wakefield win in thriller & Huddersfield pushed at Barrow

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