Daryl Powell pleased with Warrington character
Warrington Head Coach Daryl Powell was pleased with the character his side showed to claim a late victory at Leeds.
Despite having trailed for large periods of that match, Connor Wrench’s try coupled with a conversion from Stefan Ratchford saw Warrington claim victory at Headingley.
Powell was happy his side found a way to win.
He told Channel 4 after the game: “It was more about being calm. We weren’t playing well, I don’t think we played well all game really. I thought Leeds probably deserved to win- they played really well with 12 men.
“Ultimately, we did some good things at the back end to win the game, so I am pleased.
“Sometimes when a team goes down to 12, you think in your head that will do it for you. I thought that straight away with us, and I sent that message out.
“There is a lot of improvement in us, but I am delighted that we got a win in our first game.”
Ratchford says plenty more to come from Warrington
Warrington’s testimonial man Ratchford believes Warrington found their success when they went back to how they wanted to play.
Leeds were reduced to 12 men in the first half following James Bentley’s red card on his debut for a dangerous tackle on Gareth Widdop. They also ended the first half with 11 men as former Wire hooker Brad Dwyer was sin binned for a late hit on Widdop.
Ratchford, who was named man of the match by Channel 4, thought his side tried to overplay in the first half, which came to their detriment.
He added to Channel 4: “It was a bit of a scrappy game. We tried to overplay, especially against 12 men. We were better in the second half in terms of what we wanted to do. To nick it at the end was a nice finish.
He (Daryl Powell) wasn’t happy at half-time, but he will be happy we got the two points. I think performance wise, we still have a fair bit to work on. It wasn’t great, and we went away from what would work too much.
“It’s only going to get better when the weather dries up. I’m sure the viewing will be much better than it was today.”
Read More: Warrington edge Leeds in entertaining Channel 4 debut – talking points
