Paper Talk: Wane & Powell on Warrington speculation, Noble & Schofield on politics and remembering merger talk

We’ve had a look through the morning papers.

Wane ‘rules out’ Warrington job

England coach Shaun Wane has ruled himself out of the running for the Warrington job, reports Wigan Today. The former Warriors coach has been heavily linked with replacing Steve Price at the end of the year, with even Tim Sheens calling Wane “hot favourite” for the job.

Powell not got anything lined up

Another contender for the Warrington job is outgoing Castleford coach Daryl Powell, who has told the Yorkshire Evening Post that he doesn’t have a new club lined up and is focused on winning silverware with the Tigers in 2021. He said of the Wolves links: “People have put two and two together there. I don’t have anything set up. Nothing’s off the table.”

Schofield wants owners to see bigger picture

Garry Schofield uses his League Express column to express his frustration at club owners acting out of self-interest and says “they just don’t seem to be seeing the bigger picture.” His comments come after Ian Lenagan’s explosive Wigan press conference, as well as Adam Pearson hinting that Hull may not release players for the Combined Nations side.

Schofield said: “Wigan’s owner claims Super League is better run than ever before, which he would, given his club’s role in the breakaway from the RFL. He’s entitled to his opinion, but so are others, and rather than have a go at Gary (Hetherington), who is a very successful administrators and has always had the good of the game, rather than just Leeds, at heart, he should worry about his own club.”

Noble says game in survival mode

Brian Noble says he would be willing to help the proposed new Canadian domestic competition, adding that 80% of rugby league is in survival mode. Writing in his Forty20 column, he said: “If you look at the game over the last 25 years or so of Super League, only two places have created new audiences; Bradford when they re-booted in ’96 and Toronto. The majority of the game is in survival mode and trying to grab every tenner however it can. That’s not a criticism, it’s understandable. So many are still frightened of what might be coming economically.”

Woods recalls controversial merger talk ahead of Super League start

The BBC’s Dave Woods recalls the controversial merger plan that was dreamt up for Super League’s launch in 1996 in League Express. He said: “It’s easy now to look back and say the game should have held its nerve and gone ahead with the mergers, but it created so much passion, and fans would have walked away from the game.” Of course, Keighley were most aggrieved by the move but Featherstone, Salford, Wakefield, Widnes and Batley were also denied their places in the top division.

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