Agree with this, I've been really encouraged by what Powell has said so far in interviews, he seems to have identified problems which is something that our previous coach couldn't do. We do have a lot of good players on our side and more to come from most of over last couple of years form.

Leeds have to play Gale and sezer in the halves surely? Myler will possibly be reserve fullback if jack walker is fit, Austin could be used as LF or maybe to play 9? If it was us with those 4 in the squad I wouldn't be viewing that as good use of the cap.

May be a bit on the pessimistic side there... the current Cas squad under Powell was battling around 6th this year - surely we are better than that Cas squad, even if we are a bit light in the front row? On paper, how much better are our nearest rivals for 2nd place (Leeds, Wigan and Cats)?

Here's an interesting one for everybody to ponder... Would you rather have (a) our current squad plus Hill or another top prop, but coached by Agar, McNamara or Peet, or (b) our current squad [iwithout [/iHill or A.N.O Prop, but coached by Powell? It's the latter every time for me.

Definitely the latter. Hill is good for another couple of seasons BUT he needed to be replaced. Jordan Abdull played really well this past season behind a pack which isn't as good as ours will be in 2022 (IMO) he benefitted hugely from a coach who understood him, gave him responsibility and freedom in a team which emphasised attack and he kicked on massively. I think every one of our players except maybe Cooper (should be made captain this season) could benefit and reach higher performance levels under Powell. I don't think anyone else performed to their maximum ability (certainly in attack) last season except maybe Hill and Mamo who have left. So by my book practically every player we have can perform better.

We have to play differently with the squad for 2022 but that really isn't a bad thing at all. I do think there will be games where errors just kill us and overall i don't think we (or anyone else) can compete with saints for top spot. Saints will be the favourites this season for every trophy and in every game they play, rightly so, but we may not have to beat Saints to win anything and we can absolutely compete with everyone else.

I think I will enjoy watching more warrington games in 2022 than I have in each of the last 3 seasons. Surely that's reason for a little optimism.

We'll be in the top 3

Well it looks like this is sorted at Leeds Sneyd has gone to Salford on a 3 year deal and Luke Gale has signed for Hull FC for 2022. So Sezer and Austin it is then with Myler as cover by the look of things.

If Gale stays fit have Hull got a decent outcome from the Austin to Leeds deal? Or did Gale only look half-decent because of Powell?

If it's the latter, I don't feel so bad about one of Widdop or Williams being out injured, because Powell can hopefully do with Riley Dean what he did with Gale. I'd love to see Dean tearing it up when he gets the chance... he isn't out on a year-long loan or anything is he?

Riley Dean in an ideal world should get some game time this season. The trouble is though any injury/ suspensions to Widdop or Williams and its probably more justified at the minute to move thewlis in to fullback and ratchford in to the halves.

If Dean is to get some games I think it will be to rest players before Cup matches or in early round Cup matches depending upon opposition. Its a tricky one with Dean, but he needs a season to allow powell to see if he needs to recruit a half back for the 2023 season or give young Riley Dean a chance to impress. I think he deserves at least half the games patton was given because to me he looks the better prospect.

When we appointed Smith, we were appointing a two time Grand Final winning coach to lead a squad that contained Morley, Monaghan, Briers, King, Hicks, Carvell, Louis Anderson, Westwood, Ben Harrison, Simon Grix.

Now we've appointed Powell, who has never won any major trophies, to a squad which is full of journeymen and players past their best.

There is nowhere near the same optimism.

The fundamental problems that the club has had for years - poor recruitment, no leaders on the field, lack of top tier young talent, have not been solved. We've just got an overall slightly weaker squad than last year.

Everybody that is trying to look on the bright side now knows the truth deep down - we haven't got any kind of leadership, we have an unbalanced squad and a weak pack. This is exactly the stuff we will be talking about at the post mortem of next season and we all know it now. We're just in the phase we go through every year of "2022 new breed Wolves" or whatever.

Maybe you don't have the same optimism Sally but alot of people do. Doesn't matter if Powell doesn't have the same CV as Smith did at all. I'm excited for him and know what he can do with players and with building a team. I've not been this excited in 5 years.

Well, Saints didn’t storm it last year nor the year before. Their squad isn’t that much better. Cats have a similar squad to us, Wigan’s is arguably poorer and they’ve just binned their coach. Leeds, based on paper and media love-ins should conquer all before them. Anyone want Agar back? We all bemoaned Hull getting Hodgson when we had the shackles of Price’s style. They don’t look up to much either.

So I’m not sure where all these world-class players and coaches are that we’ve missed out on for 2022. There aren’t exactly rich-pickings going, and since there aren’t I’d rather have a couch who has a record of doing alright with scraps. Woolf has a cup and two championship titles to his credit, and a slightly more balanced squad. As for the rest of the league, it should be pants, but yet Saints didn’t walk it the last two years did they?

Don’t get me wrong, I’d love a team full of the NRLs best, coached by a multi-NRL-title-winning coach. It’s not on the cards though is it?

BTW I’m hard to please, not a ‘happy clapper’…

Agree with you Easy. I have certainly not clapped much over the last 3 or 4 years and am looking forward to next season. Who knows we might see some 'moves' and some dummy runners.....

I appreciate that Tony Smith had more success prior to coming to Warrington but he has a similar record of improving players in a team that was largely under performing. We should not forget that before Smith arrived Monaghan had been signed as a scrum half and both Monaghan and King were regularly offered free Quantas flights back to Aus by large proprtions of the wire faithful. Briers and Bridge although very talented were probably not performing to their potential.
Smith came in and mainly moved Monaghan to 9 and became one of the best bookers we have ever had. Briers and Bridge were given more focus. Over 18 months the team looked like they liked defending and had a licence to play with freedom in attack as long as they could back that up in defence. I think there were probably people saying that Monaghan was a waste of cap space and a quota spot. Within 2 years Monaghan, King, Briers, Bridge, Harrison and Grix had all improved or were playing to their potential..
I see parallels between Powell and Smith. Smith was not a structure driven Aussie coach. I am hopeful (rather than expecting) a big improvemt over the next 2 years in players collectively working for each other. I think one of the reasons that we have not managed to fully utilise Darryl Clark's talent is that under Price players have been told to set up a set of six so that they end the set in an certain position on the field. So when Clark is looking at markers not set and he is jumping uut of DH the rest of our players are looking the other way setting up for a structured set of plays that is all pre determined so therefore nobody is pushing up in support.
I think Powell strength is getting the team to work together, to all buy in to the same aims and goals. Even though this is a small indicator you look at the Cas team when they hold a player up over their own try line. That is a clever play but it takes communication, co-ordination and for all involved to know what they have to do and to buy into it. You only need one defender to drop off that tackle and it is a try so to execute it all the players have to believe it is the right thing to do. It is that sort of collective belief / buy in that sometimes looked like it has been missing for a while.
I maybe over thinking it but if nothing else it should be different than the last 4 years..

If I want misery I’ll watch the news. It is in my blood to be optimistic about my team. It isn’t rational, but then supporting a team isn’t really rational otherwise everyone would support the team that happens to be winning.
I will continue to be optimistic until victory is out of sight and then I’ll be disappointed for a short while and then move on. It seems a better place to be than permanently unhappy.

In reply I did caveat with saying I am optimistic we will be on the path to a brighter future, not that we would win anything. Price was a four year train wreck and it was painful to watch, the rugby was abysmal and the constant diatribe of "what footy team he has" and "easy to fix" just showed me he was lost. Smith for all his achievements and talents, didn't deliver the big prize, we were also dire in his final years. He was no messiah. Powell is a bit of an unknown but has enthused me more in one public appearance and one interview than Price did in four years of mumbling post match.

I completely agree about the multitude of weaknesses organisational, aspirational and playing squad as they are as obvious as they are out of our control. I cannot do anything about them or change them. Our problems are exacerbated by our relative weakness of development of young top quality players and the fact we have to pay over the odds to get top players to play for us (Saints/Wigan/Leeds will always be bigger draws whilst they have the stronger brand and history).

I need to accept Warrington RLFC for what it is and try to have some enjoyment or give up on RL.

Your post's claims would carry more weight if only for the fact that the whole league is a lot weaker than when Tony Smith took over in 2009. So yes, those players you name are better than the current squad, but the current squad is still a decent one in the context of the modern game.

If (and its a big if) Powell can get an extra 10% from each individual and also instill some belief (which I truly believe was lacking under Price), then there is no reason that this squad can't properly challenge for trophies.

Overall, while we may not be any great shakes, the league itself is a very weak one.