Just finished listening to the interview. Credit for the honesty of Powell, there were a few points where he really exposes himself as a contributor to the seasons failure. I get the impression that he put this forward as a relationship builder, which he should get credit for.

But all in all, it’s a bit of red meat for the fans in my opinion. Enough honesty and accountability for it to be credible, but enough of a spin for 2023 to be sellable.

The poignant point for me was the honesty of when he confessed to changing under pressure, particularly when he referenced kicking penalties when it was against his philosophy. My takeaway from that, if I was him, would be to be robust on your principles and stick by them. It’s a contradiction banging on about being consistent with values and philosophy, only to undermine yourself when the pressure is on. Exactly the behaviour he has cited as being the flaw with the club.

2022 is in the bin. Time to move on.

Great posts Easywire. It sounds like it's been a bit of a nightmare behind the scenes and it would explain, in part, why we've been so poor. I honestly think any manager would have struggled with this, but only time will tell. I'm feeling more positive that hopefully the right players are aboard with the right attitude. Good point made too about having most of our players ready to train during the WC.

As Barbed Wire has said, 22 in the bin, time to move on.

And the final aftershock of an abject Warrington season, just one representative in the WC squad.

I for one am delighted. I hope the players who thought they could down tools, insult the fans and the badge and waltz into the squad are suitably humbled.

Who are you thinking of? I can't think of anyone who might have thought that.

I must say, when I read the squad, I was actually quite impressed that form had been taken into account. Realistically, some of the “expected” squad members would have got in squads of yesteryear.

Ackers, Sneyd and Batchelor are bang in form and are there on merit. No sentiment. Show of intent from Wane.

Ackers has really developed into a top line hooker.

Nice to see another one of our exAcademy players selected for the England squad.

I loved the interview and would love one at the end of every season, good or bad. I like that Powell literally isn't scared to answer any question and i thought Carney was a brilliant interviewer.
I'm really excited for next and can't wait for it to start


And i'm also glad only 1 of the squad made the England team. Full off season and a full pre-season under their belts. Genuinely can't wait

I did enjoy the interview. Though I would be interested in hearing thoughts of others on this season. I understand Powell’s “they didn’t buy in” approach, but I wonder what those without a horse in the race would say.

If I was CEO I would have had a chat with Amor and listen to what he saw and what he thought. He’s been in a good system and has no vested interest going forward. Similarly I would speak to Magoulias, to hear his objective thoughts.

You wouldn’t learn much from Cooper/Charnley as they will have a grudge, alternatively you wouldn’t get much from Matautia or Dufty etc. as they have the pressure of loyalty, but those that have seen it and don’t rely on the club for their future should have their story heard.

Pains me to say it, because I've been a fan all his career, but Ben Currie. Also Darryl Clarke. They got picked for the most part on reputation, not form, and had the air of men who knew it and thought it was enough.

Wane's snub might do them both good.

I never thought they had much of a chance. They have lost their edge of pace. Clark always works his knackers off but Currie has for years glued himself to the left edge & waited for the action to come his way.

I remember reading an interview with the ex-Chelsea & Everton footballer, Pat Nevin a few years ago. In it, he spoke of the time when he suffered a major knee injury during a game, which needed a reconstruction & kept him out of the game for about a year. After his recovery, he said he was never the same player ever again, though interestingly it wasn't a physical issue, but a psychological issue. He basically said that everytime the ball came to him, he had one eye on his opponent and the possibility of getting tackled heavily again and picking up another serious injury.

With that in mind, looking at Ben Currie and his form since his injuries, is it possible now that mentally he just isn't upto top level RL anymore?.. No doubt, the talent is still there, as we do still see the odd flashes, but is he now wary of that next heavy tackle and the possible damage that could fetch with it and so, almost unintentionally, he isn't getting as involved as we might expect him to?

Personally, I'd love him to return to the top form we have seen him produce previously, but is it now time to cut our losses and accept that player isn't ever coming back and it's time to move on and let him go?

Ben is a player that flourishes in a winning team, when the chiops are down, he just doesn't seem like a player that will knuckle down and make things happen.

I cant recall him changing a game through a crunching big hit or break. He is not a leader nor does he exhibit much aggression. As has been said, great when we are already winning. We have seen the best of him 4 years or so ago. His contract is up next season and I cant see him extended.

I think if we looked back there would be evidence of some significant intervention that had led us to win games. From memory he made the break that set Ashton away to beat Cas when we played at Saints in Covid. He also scored a couple of critical tries away at Wigan including the winner, granted going back to 2018 ish now.

I’ve made my thoughts known on this previously, he is a luxury. When you have a dominant pack, or even wingers who make meters and create good field position, he will excel. Without that, he’s just an extra centre in truth, he can’t do the hard stuff that Westwood, Waterhouse or Anderson could.

Rhetoric is all well and good, but I'd like to see the DP regime get things right on the pitch.

I wonder how saints players would react if some of their team mates were not putting a shift in. We should have used amor as a consultancy role in the short time we had him.

That's the role I thought he was given, as he didn't play much rugby. A baffling signing.

Id like to see Jamie Peacock brought in to work with the players on mental toughness and professionalism.

By all accounts, he stated his thoughts as he left. Not sure at whom they were directed.

Always seemed like a centre playing SR to me. His one trick now seems to be chasing planned grubber kicks from Williams. Maybe he will play more centre next year, he seems to have the necessary skills. I think Wire would do better with a work-horse (Ben Westwood type) SR who will get involved in the more physical stuff and give a higher tackle count, especially as next year's front rowers are not the most mobile and won't play big minutes.

one thing that peed me off a lot this year, was the usual suspects at right and left second row, not doing enough tackling, mopping up from the middles.

i've mentioned it a couple of times and others have as well, if you look at some of the tries we've conceded more often than not you'll see currie or holmes not even trying to effect a tackle.

thats whats annoyed me more than anything else with the pair of them, thats why i was demanding they be dropped, that isn't a 'play themselves back into form' situation, thats a lack of effort and most definitely a CBA.

Dare I say it, that we may have missed all the tackling Hughes did?

Quote ="Captain Hook"Dare I say it, that we may have missed all the tackling Hughes did?'" on one side possibly, have a look at this set of 'highlights' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fv41WfDrg7Y look at the salford tries and the lack of involvement from currie and holmes in most of them

Quote ="Captain Hook"Dare I say it, that we may have missed all the tackling Hughes did?'" on one side possibly, have a look at this set of 'highlights' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fv41WfDrg7Y look at the salford tries and the lack of involvement from currie and holmes in most of them

same thing in this game as well, i know other people have mentioned currie's lack of effort on goal line defence, but in most cases you can see the pair of them, sort of just there in the back ground on a lot of tries. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2il9psYquw

same thing in this game as well, i know other people have mentioned currie's lack of effort on goal line defence, but in most cases you can see the pair of them, sort of just there in the back ground on a lot of tries. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2il9psYquw

Quote ="Fantastic Mr Cat"on one side possibly, have a look at this set of 'highlights' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fv41WfDrg7Y look at the salford tries and the lack of involvement from currie and holmes in most of them'" The striking thing for me in this is how blatantly obvious is that the players aren’t trying to do the same thing. Look at the Cross try scored at 24-8, critics will blame Currie on this for leaving Ratchford exposed, but if you look back further, there is an intention from Currie and Walker to get off the line and cut down space/time, which isn’t matched by Bullock or Harrison. Bullock is a yard or two behind Walker’s position, meaning Walker can’t move off and slide until the hall has passed him. Currie sinks in to take the ‘lead’ who should be Walker’s man which leaves the space outside him, which Ratchford is slow to close down, so he has to hold off and buy time, resulting in a passive legs tackle and ultimately allowed to offload. Similarly, the next try, Matautia has gone up fast, Holmes hasn’t, huge gap behind Matautia for a walk in. There isn’t necessarily a right answer (in my opinion) about whether to shoot out or slide on your try line, but you all need to do the same thing.

Quote ="Fantastic Mr Cat"on one side possibly, have a look at this set of 'highlights' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fv41WfDrg7Y look at the salford tries and the lack of involvement from currie and holmes in most of them'" The striking thing for me in this is how blatantly obvious is that the players aren’t trying to do the same thing. Look at the Cross try scored at 24-8, critics will blame Currie on this for leaving Ratchford exposed, but if you look back further, there is an intention from Currie and Walker to get off the line and cut down space/time, which isn’t matched by Bullock or Harrison. Bullock is a yard or two behind Walker’s position, meaning Walker can’t move off and slide until the hall has passed him. Currie sinks in to take the ‘lead’ who should be Walker’s man which leaves the space outside him, which Ratchford is slow to close down, so he has to hold off and buy time, resulting in a passive legs tackle and ultimately allowed to offload. Similarly, the next try, Matautia has gone up fast, Holmes hasn’t, huge gap behind Matautia for a walk in. There isn’t necessarily a right answer (in my opinion) about whether to shoot out or slide on your try line, but you all need to do the same thing.