Please god let the Holmes rumours be true

Heard the rumour about Holmes being offered to other clubs for the 2023 season too.

Powell intends to play Harrison in the 2nd row, so I think that Holmes will leave Warrington

If Holmes is leaving ,it doesn't say much about the decisiveness of DP. He has so called coached Holmes for several seasons so he must have known Holmes's capabilities & whether he would fit into his plans for the Wire. Unless ,of course ,Olly is fed up with life on this side of the Pennines.

I've heard Bullock is being offered out as well, which seems odd - unless he is indeed on some lopsided large salary. He was one of the bright spots of the season IMO.

I'm fed up with his life on this of the Pennines

Good to see you’re keeping the Holmes fires burning…

Strange on both Holmes and Bullock, if they are true. Bullock, as others have said, has proved to be a decent squad member for what I would imagine to be a modest salary.

Holmes may be driving it himself, I can imaging him being annoyed moving across with a coach in the name of trust only to be dropped for a mid-season signing with only a handful of games under his belt. But Powell picked him, moved him and picked him again, so he must want him, unless his salary is bigger than his return, but surely he’s not on that much.

I've no idea on Bullock's salary but from what Paul2812 alluded to in an earlier thread I wouldn't be surprised if he was the top earner in the pack which would be rather strange. Powell did sign Bullock though did he not?

he did

Never ! This is God's country.

He’ll get as long as Moran wants to give him.

Powell is Morans man. When the board met to discuss Powell’s future during the latter stages of the season, Moran made it clear that if Powell went….. so would he and he’d be taking his wallet with him.

You know these boardroom discussions…..how?

Like Moran gave Tony Smith 2+ years too long and Price 2 years too long.

We are making excuses for ourselves.

Powell should hit the ground running next season or hit the bricks. He's had long enough. Hes had so long he is exiting players he signed now.

I said at the start of the season that Bullock is on too much money.
I was gobsmacked when I was told. He was in the top 4 earners of 2022. It’s not hard to fathom why Coops was peed off.
You have to acknowledge that DP wouldn’t have been party to such contractual dealings, and certainly not Bullock. That was done before he was on the radar.

Im pretty sure the article in April 2021 with the MEN Powell confirmed that he was running recruitment for 2022 in tandem with his role at Cas, so wouldn’t be too sure on that.

Either way, the club have taken a broad “cut your losses” approach in 2022, so another one won’t hurt.

Powell’s own admission, his eye was 100% on Cas.
It wouldn’t have been respectful to engage in 2022 recruitment ahead of the end of the 2021 season. That is on record.

no he's said he'd been in touch with warrington during the entire year after being appointed. Cas was his priority but he was in contact with KF and the board here as well.

Bullock was a DP signing.

“Warrington Wolves chief executive Karl Fitzpatrick has insisted that Daryl Powell will have full control over the make-up of the squad he inherits in 2022. Powell remains under contract at Castleford for the rest of this season, before moving across the Pennines to succeed Steve Price at the Halliwell Jones Stadium. The Wolves have a number of big names out of contract at the end of the year, including marquee half-back Blake Austin and centre Toby King.” Taken from the below article https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk ... 392084.amp

“Warrington Wolves chief executive Karl Fitzpatrick has insisted that Daryl Powell will have full control over the make-up of the squad he inherits in 2022. Powell remains under contract at Castleford for the rest of this season, before moving across the Pennines to succeed Steve Price at the Halliwell Jones Stadium. The Wolves have a number of big names out of contract at the end of the year, including marquee half-back Blake Austin and centre Toby King.” Taken from the below article https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk ... 392084.amp

In which case so was King?

err, yeah

King was an awkward one though. He was in great form and seemingly had great potential. Powell wouldn't know the problems behind the scenes in 2021. It's a shame Warrington couldn't have paid an experienced ex-NRL or SL coach to come over as a short-term consultant to give an honest appraisal of how we compare 'backroom' as a club against other top professional teams. He could have written a little warning note for Powell. It seems Wane knew about it, and didn't want the challenge.

How does all this "how long does Powell have" balance with the desire to see him giving young players a shot and sticking with them rather than jettisoning them if they don't set the world on fire in their first 10 to 20 games?

If Powell starts the season with Riley Dean and 6 games into the season we've won 3, lost 3, do we say we aren't hitting the ground running, lets ditch him and bring in a proper coach who will make signing an experienced halfback a priority and ship Dean off to the Championship to build his experience?

Well, the two aren't mutually exclusive. A top coach should be able to manage a long term plan to integrate youngsters into the team AND deliver results.

Irrespective of who is making up thr starting 17, Powell has no excuses in 2023. He has another off-season, the players will get a long rest due to non-involvement in the WC and he has the squad he signed. Get on with it.

The words from Adrian Morley regarding Daryl Powell:

“I think they need to keep faith in Daryl Powell because he’s a tried and tested coach,” said the 45-year-old Great Britain legend.

“He’s been coaching in Super League for a very long time and next year he will have a number of players at his disposal who he has brought in. Hopefully he’ll be able to stamp his mark on the team a little bit more, so fingers crossed he can do that.

“Daryl needs to get off to a good start because, if they don’t, then some decisions will have to be made. But I’m sure they will because, while this year has been hard watching them, I’m sure the Wire can come good again next year.

“Daryl has brought in a lot of his own players for next season so the onus is on them to perform and get the team challenging again. We live in hope because, like all my former clubs, Warrington Wolves will always have a special place in my heart.”

We lived in hope all last season. It's delivery time next season. No excuses. I hope it works out...