What is taking the sting out of the situation for me is that we were playing dull rugby for 3 years previous and never made an imprint on the playoffs. It's not as if Powell has come in and buggered up a finely tuned winning machine. This season will deliver exactly the same as 2021.

How many “clear the air” conversations does one team ruddy need? They seemed to crop up once a year with Price in charge, we’ll be on a world-beating 2 for this year soon and we’re only half way through the season.

I Remember when Saints were rubbish, I mean loaning our halfbacks off us rubbish… They were still making the playoffs. Wigan flirted with relegation 15 years ago and i remember seeing Dave Whelan on Sky saying they would be winning SL within 5 years. They did it in 3 (i think?).

As others have said, we’re further away from winning SL than we were 10 years ago, and we’ve gone through 3 coaches and countless publicity stunts. Something is going on at the club and I’m not really interested who/what is to blame, but looking back at our teams of the 90s when i started watching who were poor but (by and large) gave everything for the shirt, versus this shower, and come season ticket renewal time I might be thinking of other ways to spend my money and time.

What changes would you make?

Early in the season we took a beating and Shaun Wane was doing some Sky punditry and started that it is a big job to sort out warrington. I think Wane knew that warrington were attempting a complete overhaul.
One thing I have to give credit to Powell is the courage of his conviction. It would be easy after a run of dodgy results to cave in and go back to relying on Darryl Clark to get us upfield or for a cross field kick to Toby King on the last play. Ok, so perhaps he has tried to change too much too soon. I suppose it's like trying to learn to tie your shoe laces a different way after doing it for 40 years.

I dont know if everybody has seen it but there is a video of coaching tips online (search, the tip sheet _Darryl Powel) that is worth a watch. I watched it before he joined and have watched it recently and I can see us trying to do some of the things he covers in the video but just possibly not executed fully.
One thing I did notice recently was Mulhern taking carrys early in a set a couple of times. Previously from a kick return our first 4 plays would have been the 2 wingers and 2 centres but we are starting to carry out the philosophy that Powell outlines in the video. That takes a lot of effort from the big men to get back and get into shape.
Maybe as a team we were just not as fit as we thought we were and later in games we are shot to pieces and concede soft tries. See last 20 mins against Catalan and last 15 mins of each half against Leeds.

Phil kinsella on the radio after the game mentioned that he had spoken to somebody at Warrington (I guess somebody higher up than Powell) and they are prepared to see "The Project" through. Reading into that the club knows that this is not a quick fix.

Whilst all this is going on I try and recall 2009. From the start of July through to the end of the season we played 9 league games, winning just 3 and one of those was against crusaders. If it wasn't for the challenge cup would we have been asking for the club to replace Tony Smith.

If we are still in this situation at Easter 2023 then i might change my tune.

The pressure is certainly on from a fans angle.
The lack of noise from above Powell makes it impossible to know where the board stands.

Is the home so rotten it required major structural demolition.

Is the home structurally sound but the new owner just wants to put a major demolition project in.

Is the home requiring a few jobs put in as part of the purchase deal.

Is the home only needing the walls to be whitewashed to change the appeal and increase its value.

If that’s an open question, I would have a shot at that.

I think the team lacks robust leadership at the top, and with Karl being the boards pet project, I can’t see him being forced out. As a brand and a business it seems to do ok, but the team is harming his by it’s lack of success. So, I’d bring in a Director of Rugby. Someone to set the tone and vision for the rugby aspect, how the teams are to play (style wise) and embed that throughout the academy, so when the progression comes through from youth they know the ‘role’ inside out. This would also build a blue print for the types of coaches and players you want to recruit. Less of a scatter gun approach, more targeted, should bring a better yield with less misfits.

I think, realistically, Powell is a lame duck. Sheridan, who we’ve been told is leading on defence, isn’t working out either and we appear unfit and suspect to switching off at the back end of games. So I’d clean house. The new DoR bring in a coach to match the ethos and surround that coach with credible candidates who would succeed when the time comes.

From there there needs to be a dialog with the fans. The fans need to be clearly told what the project is and what that is going to look like. They can get in touch with us quite quickly when it’s season ticket renewal period, so an open letter wouldn’t be unrealistic. If we are told that we need to clear the decks and start again and are going to blood the reserves in that period, therefore we’re going to have some uncomfortable days, I think fans would be more tolerant to poor results (subject to those you want out not taking the place of a local junior with promise).

At the heart of this though, there has to be a link between the business, the team and the town. If you have buy in from the town (fans, sponsors etc) you can use that energy for good, more kids play, more people attend, more merchandise sold, more money in the bank. With that in mind, I’d go for someone with a link to the club, who understands the people, in leadership positions. If Tony Smith would consider DoR I would start there (maybe it’s rose coloured glasses on my part).

What you have said here is a combination of what a lot of posters on here have said at some point or other, it’s good it’s been put into one post and you nailed it, unfortunately it will not happen because one thing you have missed is we are Wire.

a point i've seen made, is people saying, players have been told they're not required, so arent going to put in more than minimum(i know) effort.

Annoyingly, its the contracted players that are staying in the most part, currie,king, holmes that are playing the worst. Doesn't inspire confidence

Part of me thinks that waiting until next season is perfectly fine, given that we will have a whole new forward pack, and possibly bring in 1 or 2 new backs. But I just think back to the instant impact of coaches we've had in recent years which maybe puts a huge cloud over my perception of Powell even though I know he's trying to change things.

For all of the times we complained about the forward pack, he mentioned in a podcast/interview that he has certain lines he likes to run. And when I watch us play we are so slow shifting the ball and there is no depth. It's Widdop on one side, Williams on the other, they run at the line and pass it off if/when they can, play the ball and repeat. It's just a single row of 13 men waiting to get a touch of the ball with no sense of direction. And to me, that is the fault of Powell, regardless of what the forwards are doing.

Of course, the players are not blameless. I just keep thinking to myself, surely Widdop and Williams (who are still top players who have experience at the highest level) can surely make decisions in-game, and try to construct plays in training that can open up defences. But it starts with the coach and how they want the team to play.

Surely, if there are bad eggs in the camp, you just don't let them train or play. Because if training is running how it should and they know what lines to run, if they don't do it in the game, surely they don't play. So you'd just bring in the kids to have a go. So as much as the bad eggs claim might be true, I don't think it should have any bearing on how we set up in attack and doesn't excuse the teams lack of attacking threat. If someone is simply not doing what Powell is asking, you shift them out and get in a young player ready to prove himself who will listen to his coach. To put it in basic terms, Cooper causing problems in camp should not stop a player from essentially running a specific line. It makes 0 sense. So it's on Powell and how he is setting us up.

I won't even start on the defence. We're all aware of that monstrosity.

Same conversation every week albeit the moment is swinging to a realisation that Powell is not the man . The philosophy and vision of your club is rotten to the core .from the top you consistently get it wrong but seemingly don’t learn from your mistakes ( not personally , but your club) You need to get rid of Powell as a start point and stop the cheque book mentality of success . That team is a top 4 team and Powell is showing you that he can’t cope . Forget the rhetoric that the players are against his ethos … Rubbish , those players want to win but are being guided by a coach who isn’t upto the job . What you need isn’t a plan for next year , it’s a long term plan of youth development and investment , build quality from within who have a passion for the jersey , not ex NRL donkeys who are topping up there pension and a quality coach to lead . If Powell remains in situ this year he will be gone by this time next year because even with the mediocre signing you have made it won’t be enough . At this trajectory you are looking at 2/3 years of mid table dithering. Another re build before this one has even begun . You club needs to be ruthless and stop hoping that tomorrow will be better

It will be interesting to see how many games & minutes on the pitch our new forwards attain throughout next season considering that by then we will have got rid of two reliable ,ever present props.

Agreed, we will have more old props than Golborne pit, and that's been shut for 50 years!

Apparently the defence system Sheridan has, is….
Defender one slap grabs across at the arm to get the fender to turn a little, while defender two makes the body hit.

Our problem is, big men run straight through the player one slap arm tackle before defender two gets on him.

I love to see around the leg tackles, big men can’t run without their legs.

thats probably standard for around the league, wrap the ball up. whats interesting is that powell did say in something at the start of the year he was wanting to eradicate our habit of tackling around the legs, which lead to quick ptb's and scoots and you know how that ends up.

I'm wondering if the lad that stands to the right of me in the south stand who shouts "LEEEEGS" all the time knows this, he also shouts "WRAP THE BALL UP" when they offload. guess he wants it both ways

Both make sense to me, just the other way around. First man gets the ball wrapped up so there are no easy offloads. And as soon as it's wrapped up, you get the legs to bring them down. They could down more slowly because you have another man in the tackle wrapping up the ball so it holds up the player. The fast play the ball isn't possible and neither is the offload.