Because there are other things in the game. Fages is probably the best tackler amongst the half backs, he competes and makes a nuisance of himself. His decision making is also decent so he'll make the right decisions most of the time. These are the kinds of areas where we'll find out whether Dodd will improve us and they are things players will get better at with experience. Danny Richardson is a better kicker and passer than Fages but isn't anywhere near as good as him overall.

I'm still worried!

Not sure why. We have performed no better or worse than anyone could have sensibly expected.

This was never an overnight fix. Nights like tonight and last week are going to continue for a while yet, whoever is coaching them. This is a side with a number of issues.

The one person who gets a clear run this year (barring any unlikely flirting with the drop) is Powell. He needs to be given the chance to work long term with this squad. As discussed in other threads, we are a club with many ingrained demons and simply expecting a new coach to come in and suddenly fix that is laughable.

Nope it was never going to be pretty his first season. For me it was just let’s do well and then the following season he gets a squad he wants instead of a lot of the dross he as inherited.

The dross he inherited finished 3rd last season, losing only 5 games along the way(same as the mighty saints). Oh, and we scored more points than them as well. It can't all be down to hill leaving surely?

I think Saints, Catalans, Wigan and Huddersfield will be the 1st to 4th teams at the end of the season.

We are contesting the 5th spot in my opinion, which is pi$$ poor given the investment in our club.

Of course there's zero guarantee that Hill would have made any difference, and had he still been here the cries would have been:

"He's too old, we should have let him go and given Bullock/Philbin a go...."

I’ve been quite open with my reservations, but Powell hasn’t had his best team on the field yet. It’s not much of a saving grace, given that a few absences have been suspensions but let’s at least see what the first team can do.

I would imagine that Harrison would have been one of his first choice pack members, given that Powell made a move for him early.

Charnley is effective and was missed on Friday, his suspension hurt us. Holmes (for reasons unknown) appears to be a cornerstone of Powells pack and has sat out 2 games. Cooper, Clark, King are all starters who have missed.

That said, scraping home against 11 men against Leeds and putting away easy beats in Castleford and Toulouse is the summary of our success so far, not inspiring.

Do you realise speaking sensibly and reasonably can get you a ban lol

I don't see how we can continue to point out how many players we have that are not good enough or how many times we remind ourselves this is the worst pack we've had in over a decade yet still keep putting the blame on the coach.

Walkers pass to Philbin when widdop was expecting it shows that some players are getting Powell's system where others are still reverting to older systems when under pressure. I think we've won the games expected and lost two games against sides that are peaking and have been together under their coach for sometime our squad is on its way out and under a new coach really unfair at the moment to make comparisons.

My main worry is that saints gave away enough penalties and turned over enough ball for us to make a better contest than it was on the score board.

There's four things that I hope DP is focussing on, improving each players individual performance, changing the style of play, promoting teamwork and team ethic and recruiting the right players for positions we are weak in. This would be the focus I'd be expecting, no matter who was in charge. Time will judge DP, with recruitment being difficult, as we can only change the squad when members come off contract. The playing style may take a season to implement, and that goes for individual player development too. Work should have started on all of these, with no quick fixes or guarantees that we'll get what we wish for. It's a case of be patient and suck it up, something we ought be well practised at.

One thing I wonder about, is are we rushing players back too soon? Last season, Daryl Clark was not the player he has been last season, nor is he in 2022. It was reported that he needed treatment for more than one injury during the off system, and I was surprised that he came back so early in the season. Cooper doesn't look as if he's as effective after suffering from a reported illness, either. There's others I could mention. Having said that, it's highly unlikely that any coach is able to put out their best side, fully fit, on a regular basis, but It does affect the side when your more influential players are in the stands, or not firing on all cylinders. I hope that DP will put more trust in other members of the squad, rather than risk the health of one or more of his first choice 17. It may turn out that we fail to make the playoffs, but we need to plan for being part of them, having as many of our best players available when the time comes, playing as a team, knowing what the plan is, and effectively executing it.

I'm prepared to be disappointed when we get to September, as long as there are tangible signs of us moving in the right direction.

Lineham seems to have a different opinion of the management at warrington than many on here. He's right about Toby though, ppl lamenting him, everything we did well for him at the start of last year, we haven't done (high balls) since he came back from injury https://twitter.com/WhatBevan/status/15 ... us6wg&s=19

Lineham seems to have a different opinion of the management at warrington than many on here. He's right about Toby though, ppl lamenting him, everything we did well for him at the start of last year, we haven't done (high balls) since he came back from injury https://twitter.com/WhatBevan/status/15 ... us6wg&s=19

Am I being fussy to suggest I want more from an international centre than just the ability to catch a high ball?

nope thats bang on, but when you've got a player who's got a strength that 9 times out of 10 teams couldn't defend it, why would you stop utilizing it?

The Warrington way as he says as not win us a Grand Final, we have to be different but right now it is just not working.