Quote: rubber duckie "Doesn’t Charnley have his own player agency. Not running it but owning it. Him being a client of his own agency!?'" Don't think so. Distinct Rugby Management is run by Iestyn Harris. https://find-and-update.company-informa ... 1/officers

Quote: rubber duckie "Doesn’t Charnley have his own player agency. Not running it but owning it. Him being a client of his own agency!?'" Don't think so. Distinct Rugby Management is run by Iestyn Harris. https://find-and-update.company-informa ... 1/officers

There is a lot of sense in that sidelines story. If Powell wants players spending more time in the club and less time doing side projects, that makes a lot of sense. When Briers was here his Twitter seemed to suggest he was on the golf course by midday every day, which rankled after a bad defeat.

But regardless of it being right or wrong, why are the comms so bad about this stuff? Why is there no public explanation of what the strategy is, or why we are seeing very senior players who HAVE performed well for the club over many years suddenly joining rivals? I think it's really poor and I would be prepared to give Powell a lot more support if I understood what the plan is I am supposed to be supporting.

Charnley has a farm.

Who are the others?

I think Powell needs to tread carefully if he's being too dogmatic. He is a respected coach but he hasn't won any trophies and he's dealing with players who have.

Privileges like being allowed to leave early to pursue other things should be contingent on performance. Personally in the case of Cooper I'd be happy to allow him to do other stuff as long as he maintains his standards. He's a leading SL front rower, those are hard to come by, he's got a long track record of performance, so accommodate him and make him happy. If his performances start to dip you have to have a quiet word and say look I support you but I'm going to have to take away some of those privileges till you get back to your old level.

I don't think in the case of Cooper we're dealing with a bratty prima donna, if we were he wouldn't be going to Wigan. Something has gone wrong somewhere.

If this is true then Powell is absolutely correct and I'll happily accept 11th place at the end of the season if that is what it is going to take to change the culture.

How do you know he did not take this approach - but clamped down as performances slumped? Also you are in danger of describing Cooper as a Jamie Peacock or Adrian Morley. Which he is certainly not.

If Cooper and Hill were as good as you seem to suggest then they were easily silenced by Hull KR last playoff game.

I normally agree with your [iserious[/i points Sally, but on this issue I cannot.

This club has repeatedly failed to produce a side that sticks together as a team when it's most needed. The club has recognised this, and Powell is the man with the plan to turn things around. He's a big believer in leadership across the team. Everyone needs to be a leader in their own right. This was hammered home in the very first meeting, and Powell clearly stated he expects everyone to buy into this philosophy.

I spent a couple of years teaching leadership skills to pilots in the middle east. There are lots of quotes we used to borrow, from many famous leaders, but the one I think is most applicable to Warrington at the moment is this'Until they are home, no man is left behind', not [i'You're the highly decorated Captain, so you can bunk off to safety and leave the footsoldiers exposed[/i'... Powell wants this in every little detail, right down to not letting the senior players choose to sit next to their mates at lunch. They set the leadership standard, and if they can't do that by staying for a full training session bringing on the likes of Wrench and Thewlis then that's tough. The coach has changed and the player roles have changed. They either adapt or choose another coach to work under.

I have no doubts Cooper is not a Bratty Prima Donna, but since we've repeatedly failed to fix the leaders problem, I'm happy for him to try his early finishes elsewhere and let Powell build a team where every player sees his wingman as an equal. I hope I'm not quoting Tom effing Cruise there...

EDIT: I've just remembered the humility quote that Powell borrows from the All Blacks: 'Sweep the Sheds'. It's in the book 'Legacy', written by some business journalist I think?

What message does that give to younger players?! That rugby isn't the priority for senior players and that Warrington doesn't need their full commitment? No wonder players don't seem to have pride in the shirt.

Senior players need to set a good example. It's becoming increasingly clear that Cooper didn't on the training ground.

Can you imagine Roby, Peacock or Sinfield asking to leave training early for such a reason? They wouldn’t even ask (even if they had an unlikely business) and that’s the difference. No matter what they’d achieved in the game even late in their careers they’d know the importance of setting an example. Completely behind Powell here, it’s exactly what we need.

I’ve also been to companies house to register Currie King and Williams Ltd.

Lots of great leadership and management seminars here but if we want to create a winning culture we could start by looking at Wigan. They certainly know how to beat us in Grand Finals.

Cooper will get to experience their winning culture at least.

Maybe but he's the best player to have come out of Warrington's Academy system since Harris and Sculthorpe in the 90s and the first since those two who has left us for a bigger club rather than a downgrade.

Technical note

He's walking into one, not being asked to help start one.

If the reasons for Cooper's release are true and you'd rather him stay, what would you do differently than Powell to change the culture of no leaders? Who would you keep, who would you sign, and who would be the first few to go?

Of the current squad and those we know of that are coming who is going to lead them around the field. I honestly don’t see a leader based on what I have seen, we all know the last leader we had was Briers and we have had nobody since. Almost feels like they are scared of taking the role on in fear of ???

The fear is the pressure of being a Warrington player and the demands for success. Whilst this is something that can’t change, the way the players handle it [ican[/i be changed.

I think Powell wants the right characters in the team to enable that to happen. You or I may not think those choices are correct based on their perceived status, but I’ll bet the likes of McShane and co weren’t seen seen as leaders when they were signed. Someone more qualified than us obviously saw something steely that we didn’t. And hopefully those characters combined with a few genuine star-quality types will help us instil a new mindset and go a bit further than we have previously.