I don't know much about Solomona, but yes Hardaker must have been a nightmare to manage during that period when he was frequenting the Leeds student union parties, bars and dances, so yes Powell still seemed to get a lot out of him.

Powell seems to me to have the knack of picking up quality players and moulding them into a very decent team, then losing his standout players to occasionally clubs like us or of course Leeds. Anything can happen but I personally feel pretty optimistic about his appointment.

I think that argument about those players 'walking' was just a politician's argument wanting to find reasons to throw shade.

You could also say that in the first half of Powell's time at Cas, 2013 to 2017, he had to deal with losing his best player 3 times (Chase, Clark and Solomona) and still over that time he took Cas from bottom of the league to the league winners' shield.

Like any coach there will be people who are less keen on the appointment and these will be the first to start asking questions if we go through a bad run. I think Powell is a good coach but also I think he may have a tough time in Warrington because of the position we are in. A new coach won't immediately solve the long term disadvantages we have relative to Saints/Wigan/Leeds, ie those clubs have got a better infrastructure for bringing through young talent and also they generally recruit better for experienced players too. Powell could get us to a position where we play more expansive rugby and put an attractive team on the field but then get knocked out in playoffs or lose a Grand Final and people will say well this is no better than what we had under TS or Price, and I think that's where the anti-Powell stuff will start on here.

I don’t mind Powell, but I’m also realistic that he hasn’t met the challenge that is in front of him yet. Wane and McDermott have, Flanagan has in Australia. Even Bennett and Bellamy were off contract at the time of the appointment. To be clear, we don’t need a re-build. We don’t need “transition”, we have a marquee squad who need to WIN! We need someone with that X factor in big games to get teams over the line.

Powell did a decent job at Leeds, don’t get me wrong. But to credit him with the dynasty that followed is a reach. Fev, great job. But it’s not comparable really. Cas, took them a long way, but now are undoubtedly in decline. Lee Radford is a more successful coach than him, in a shorter timeframe is a basketcase club. But he was never considered a candidate.

I don’t have a problem with Powell, and I hope he’s a success. But I do question the appointment, the same as I questioned Price.

Powell is clearly a very good coach who has an excellent record of recruiting the right type of player (when I say that I mean attitude rather than ability) and getting them to perform better than they probably thought they could.
Clark (MOS) leaves and recruits McShane from Wakey and ends up MOS.
Gale recruited from championship side and turned into MOS.
I can't think of any club over the last 20years that has took a punt on a championship player in such a key position. Like scrum half and it has paid off like Gale. Since Powell took over at Cas we have had Sandow, Gidley, Roberts, Brown, Austin and Widdop in the halves..
He sells the players a dream and makes them believe that they can achieve it..

Powell has probably kept that club afloat with revenue from merchandising, prize money and sponsorship from CC final, Grand final appearances and LL Shield.

I only hope he has total control because if he doesn't have total control he may as well have no control at all..
So if a senior player knocks on Fitzpatrick or Morans door wanting to have a whinge because the head Coach said some things that make them upset, or they don't like how things are going then I hope they advise them to speak to the head coach because it is him that is in charge.

The question with those guys is, would they have won Grand Finals with Cas?

Their reputation is great but it is based on their time at a big club. Nobody has suggested Noble or Millward, who also have the track record of winning Grand Finals, but then we've also seen them at Salford and Cas. McDermott before he joined Leeds was near the bottom of the league with Harlequins too.

Powell imo is one of those coaches who gets the best out of average players or cast offs such as McShane.
He thrives on the small town mentality and bigs his players up to perform well above their status.
He nurtures good team spirit and a die hard attitude amongst that type of player.
His challenge will be to make class players at Warrington even better.
I would liken him to a Sam Allardyce or Neil Warnock type in football.
David Moyes to some extent was similar.
They find it hard to bring out the best in better players.
Imo of course.

And just like that Mr Powell puts one over against Leeds

He must of read this thread and thought he better get is act together

Probably why the board felt he would work well with our approach to recruitment

It's a shame we missed the chance to see what Powell could do with Latu.

Good coach that Powell.

Doh….was going to amuse myself with the implosion on the RV.
Not enough butterkist left!!

Pre-game on Sky you would've thought Saints were the 82 kangaroos, Welsby was Inglis in his pomp and Dodd was Andrew Johns. Saints were woeful. I'd rather play them than the rest of the potential top 6.

Irrefutable evidence that Powell is a cheat, saints only lose to cheats. He should fit in well with us who only a month or so also cheated, feigned injury etc. Radio Merseyside were ridiculous even brought up Toby King and said again that he feigned injury when we came to spoil and brought loads of niggle! Apparently an injured cas player was time wasting too!

Filthy cheats.

James Bentley is the niggly, wholly unpleasant result of cloning a sewer rat with Piers Morgan; he is the shining dog doo-doo in the St Helens septic tank.