Warrington players “rattled” by instability
Photo: Mark Cosgrove/News Images
Uncertainty over the future of a large part of the Warrington squad has been partly attributed to their poor form this season.
The Wolves have been particularly active in the transfer market recently, both for this season and for 2023.
A total of 12 players were out of contract at the end of the year, with Mike Cooper having already announced a move to Wigan and Billy Magoulias released.
A re-build of the squad under new coach Daryl Powell had been widely anticipated, but their form on the pitch in the meantime had not.
Warrington are ninth in the Super League table with five wins and 10 defeats in 2022.
Answering the fans
Head coach Powell and chief executive Karl Fitzpatrick recently held a Q&A with the club’s Wire Fan Panel.
In a post on the club’s official website, the Fan Panel wrote: “The main topic on everybody’s minds was the current situation of the club’s league position and obvious difficulties on the pitch. This was openly addressed by Daryl with a main theme of uncertainty and nervousness amongst the playing group.
“It was clear that we have 12 players off contract, breeding the uncertainty.
“Karl explained that on the 1st of May every season players are given one of three letters. 1) You’re being retained. 2) It’s undecided. 3) You’re being let go – in short – and the indecision surrounding this has rattled the players’ stability.
“We can see that announcements are now starting to be made about players’ futures either at the club or elsewhere. This will increase the certainty of players’ future careers, and help to breed stability as we go through the other half of the season.
The other issue to note is nervousness. This is something Daryl commented on prior to the season talking about how when the team make mistakes or fall behind on the scoreboard, they lose composure, and this has been on ongoing issue this season.
“Some good performances were beneficial in improving confidence, and confidence comes when the team is winning; which has not been consistent this season. It is thought that more stability in the team will allow players to feel more confident and therefore decrease the problems we face when feeling nervous.”
Out of contract
Warrington have previously confirmed that winger Josh Charnley will leave at the end of the season, if not sooner.
Australian forward Jason Clark will depart for Limoux Grizzlies, while forward Matt Davis is reportedly heading to Leigh.
Gareth Widdop, Robbie Mulhern and Jack Hughes are also expected to leave the Halliwell Jones Stadium.
Long-serving full-back Stefan Ratchford is likely to stay, along with young half-back Riley Dean.
Young forwards Jacob Gannon and Eribe Doro, currently on loan at Widnes, are also out of contract.
