They weren't bad apples necessarily under the other 2 coaches because they were performing to the levels expected by those coaches at the time. And those levels were getting knocked out in the first round of play offs at home against 'inferior' sides. Powell isn't accepting those levels. He sees, I'm certain, that those players should be performing at higher levels and potentially levels that can take the club the club one step further and he's forcing the issue and it's backfiring. At least he's trying though and sees what many of us have thought - that these players, for a number of years have been coasting it.

I do agree with you and others though that there should be more consistently and reason for players to be dropped and promoted to the first team. I'd get rid of the lot and put in the young players/players putting effort in for the rest of the season.

I'm ambivalent about this, but I'm just about still in the Powell camp.

But he hasn't just come in a few weeks back, we are now several months into the project and it increasingly feels like a desperate, scattergun approach that is yielding no results.

No new manager bounce
No improvement in playing style

I agree, root and branch change takes time, is painful and is often unpalatable. But he would get much more buy in if everyone could see some green shoots, even short term, quick win green shoots.

All I see is division, dischord and alienation.

Unfortunately though it seems player power is still king and until there all gone, Powell is stuck with players who who would rather show their disdain for the changes through lazy performances than play for pride and their club's fans.

There are too many bad apples for this season to turn around performance-wise.

But I have faith in Powell, his track record of improving players and clubs over a long, long period of time is worth the trust imo.

Cooper was told by Powell he wasn't wanted for 2023, as soon as Powell came to the club this year. He doesn't want to leave and hadn't had any cross words with Powell at the time either.

What is this bad apple cobblers??? The worst playing apple is Oliver Holmes yet seems undroppable. As nice a guy as Mr Ratchford is he’s a woeful six. Thewlis could’ve been FB all season but no he’d rather play a player there who is leaving next season who could be helping out in the halves.

No bad apples caused Powell to bring a very unfit Mikaele back on with 10 to go with a flimsy lead at stake, no bad apples caused him to play Greg ruddy Minikin on the wing. The excuses are wearing thin. The emperor was down to his long johns for me last week but he’s completely in the knack now and it’s not a pretty sight.

It’s absolute nonsense that a “root and branch” transition is a legitimate excuse for what is being served up now. It’s JULY. He took charge in March/April last year and had autonomy over signings. He has signed 11 players and retained (on new contracts) 5. This is HIS squad. The bad apple tune is played out, he’s been backed to dispose of Charnley, Magoulias and King. Displaced Butler and Doro and filled the squad to suit what he wants. He’s signing garbage, mates, has-beens.

But, with 16 in a squad directly recruited/retained by him, he can’t get a tune out of them. They can’t defend, they fall away at the back end of games and there is no marked improvement on the woeful attack.

What has he achieved? Where are the green shoots of hope for me to renew my season ticket? More importantly, when appointed, what did the board hand down as an acceptable performance indicator and has he met that? We’re 10th, and either Wakefield will draw level with us or Toulouse will close the gap to 4 points from the bottom.

You say about limping out of the play offs with a whimper, at the moment there should be genuine concern about going down. The job was getting a squad on-side and united to challenge for a title, and we’re six points off the club he left and stripped of his preferred players. We’re in freefall.

It pains me to say that is the post of the week.

We’re stayin up brother!

Seconded. If it comes to a three-way shootout between us, Trinity and Toulouse then we are in trouble - they will beat us based on desire, pride and effort alone.

It's a good post and really good points made, especially about the players he's brought in. But if half the team know they're going, and are hacked off about it, I'm not expecting much else until next season.

We need to give Powell at least this and next season and we defo need to see shoots of recovery next season. If it's like this midway through next season, then alarm bells will be ringing.

Out of interest, what would be your choice of action?

The problem is I don’t see us winning a game currently. We’ve won 2 in 13 and one of those was the game against Hull which was hardly a classic.

We’re in a relegation fight - and still have to play Toulouse again.

I’d still like to stick with Powell but if relegation becomes a real threat with no sign of improvement then we may need to make a hard decision. I did think we need one more win to be safe but think at least two necessary now.

I'm not having that the majority of the team are bad apples and not wanting to play. If a player knows they may not be / will be ejected at the end of the season I would be trying to impress to secure a contract elsewhere.
How do all those who are bad mouthing these so called bad apples know?
There is one bad apple, and that is the guy who has the responsibility to work with each and every player, develop the strengths, improve on their weaknesses and to coach them as a team in a game plan that works for them to win games. Team work and team spirit. None of this exists. Wasn't this supposed to be Powell's strength? If so it has deserted him and the club are paying for it - with speccies money.
I have watched Wire for many many years, this is one of the worst I have seen, and takes some doing!
Powell is a failed experiment, I almost feel sorry for him, I am sure he really wants success but its not happening is it?

I’ve said the same thing a lot over the last 6 years, but much more since around March last year, the board haven’t got the recruiting correct. The club doesn’t have a style, or a philosophy. Saints have played the same style for years, Wigan since McGuire have hammered home their style, Melbourne Storm the same. Yet we go from being free flowing rugby with Smith, then toward the back end try to rip off the Saints method of hard running and scooting, then Price comes in with percentage play and now Powell, who if anything is an attacking coach.

This comes from the top down, and help junior development when it comes to people stepping in to the system seamlessly as they’ve played the same brand through scholarship, academy, reserves.

It’s a big beast to coach the first team, and lead on the development of reserves/academy/womens/PDRL etc all at once, so I think a Director of Rugby is essential until we have those tram tracks in place. The board need to decide what this club should look like, what style we are to play and what is acceptable (behaviourally & delivery) from players and coaches, then a DoR needs to be recruited to suit that mould.

For me, Warrington need to play attractive rugby, we don’t have the pool of fans and amateur teams around to sustain viewers and participants like Leeds/Wigan/Saints have, so we need to entertain and drag people through the turnstile. From that, I’d bring in Tony Smith as DoR and bring in an attack-minded coach to work with him. Might have been too soon for Briers to come back, but someone with an affinity with the club who the fans will get behind and stick with if the start was tough. Matt King is highly thought off, in a good system at the Roosters too. Michael Monaghan maybe, but I think he’s stepped back from coaching first grade and is now in pathways at Manly.

I’ve said all along, it’s not necessarily Powell’s fault, but it’s a square peg. There needs to be a stronger link with the fans to reconnect. After some slow years with Price, and Covid, we need to build that rapport. At the minute, with every press conference, Powell puts more land between the fans and the club.

I think so too, mainly because I have no faith in Toulouse finding enough points to close the gap. We have some very winnable games too, but I just think that if we get rolled by Catalan, Wheldon Road is the last place we want to be the week after. They’ll make it hostile and try and get one over on the man who left them and took a couple of players.

It’s a slippery slope, Hull KR at home is always tricky, Huddersfield are up and down then Wigan. Before you know it, you’ve got Toulouse at home and it’s a must win to keep the gap. They’ve got Wakefield, Leeds, Salford, Hull and Hull KR up to that point. They will fancy their chances in a few of them, especially with 3 at home in a row.

Does it look to your eyes like they're trying to impress to secure a contract elsewhere? From 22 - 8 up, at home, conceding 3 trys in 10 minutes at the end to lose the game, says a lot about the attitude of those players. Out in the first round of the play offs at home in the past 3 years under the previous coach says its not a one off with these players.

Powell doesn't look like the answer at the moment, though I'm still backing him above the players because he has a track record of improving things long term, whereas these players have a track record of underperforming year upon year.

Powell may well fail, but I'd rather we rolled the dice in a big way than get stuck with underachieving half d players as a result of appointing another Price type manager. And it may sound crazy, but I'd rather we teeter on the edge this season if it means we'll have a better chance in future of winning the GF because of a culture change.

As mentioned just, I like the idea of a DOF type appointment. That would hopefully provide a bit of long-term consistency with regard to the type of players we recruit and playing style.



At some point Warrington will be playing Toulouse, and you can guarantee between now and then that our players will be also playing to lose.