It's 10 years now since DVDV left Warrington, the first game in August 2001 was the one where Paul Darbyshire took charge for a week as caretaker coach and we beat Bradford 18-14 with Smyth scoring a late try at the corner, Mark Gleeson winning man of the match on his full debut, Jon Clarke playing scrum half and Nikau stand off.

I wonder what we would have thought back then when we were celebrating a last minute win over Bradford, that a decade on we would be smashing 60 odd past Bradford and not regarding it as anything significant.

It got me thinking though, the DVDV era was probably more significant than it gets credit for in our recent history. When DVDV took over in 1997 just after Iestyn Harris had been sold, was probably the most precarious point in our history. I know 2002 was the lowest ebb on the field but back then with the stadium being built, our future was probably more secure than it was in the first 12 months of DVDVs reign, when we had no money, couldn't afford to run a youth team, a dilapidated old ground and little cause for optimism for the future. It was the end of that season that we sold Scully and the consortium came in to stop us folding, I think that marked the point as well when Simon Moran first took part ownership of the club?

It was in the DVDV era that a lot of significant decisions were made. One was that around 1999 was the time the first acorns were sown of improving the youth set up, the scholarship was set up with William Beamont, I remember DVDV was talking a lot about this back then saying he wanted to set something up along the lines of what he was familiar with in Queensland and that it would take 7 years or so before we could start seeing the effects. That was right because towards the end of the last decade we saw a lot more good lads emerging.

Also the DVDV era was when the stadium decision was won, with Peter Deakin on board as well. I thought both DVDV and Deakin had their flaws but they were good to have at that time, I remember feeling that year after Scully had just been sold, a real feeling of depression and lack of ambition on the terraces at Wilderspool, we all thought we were just going to be rubbish forever. Deakin came in with boundless optimism and with hindsight he was maybe a bit unrealistic for where we were at the time, so we had a false dawn when we signed big names and disappointed again - but Deakin did change the mindset of the club to one of thinking a bit bigger and this was important to get momentum for the stadium decision especially when we had a fight. DVDV was the reason we got Langer when the Pies wanted to sign him along with Renouf, and the Langer signing I still think is the most significant of our recent history other than Morley, because from the moment Langer joined, we got a boost to the crowds that never dropped off, I noticed a new set of faces that 2000 season that you have seen at games ever since.

There was another important decision that was made in the DVDV era, in fact the first decision he made as a coach was what to do to replace Iestyn Harris, he signed Bobbie Goulding's back up Lee Briers from Saints.

So what are everyone else's thoughts about the DVDV era, ten years on.

Can't say I was a fan of DVD, especially after the way he treate Mark Forster, by he did put some excellent steps in place with regards the academy.

Worth noting it was Murphy and Anderson who signed Briers not DVD, who's biggest mistake was putting him full back.

Can't say I was a fan of DVD, especially after the way he treate Mark Forster, by he did put some excellent steps in place with regards the academy.

Worth noting it was Murphy and Anderson who signed Briers not DVD, who's biggest mistake was putting him full back.

Briers signed in 97, Anderson (I assume you mean Steve Anderson) was coach in 2001.

good post some points that people would never have realised i remember langer coming in and boosting the crowds and like yourself got people that were on the fringes of watching rugby league just come to see him play and have stayed ever since and yes he was right in the youth system that he put in place in that it wouldnt bear fruit straight away and will need to wait a number of years personally think it is still just starting to produce now after it has grown and been developed from an extremely raw vision but i enjoyed watching some of the rugby of this period and put us in good stead for the current

DVDV had already been coach for 2 or 3 games before we signed Briers, he needed to sign a halfback because we had none, Willie Swann had been sacked, Jon Duffy had been promoted from the academy (he was about 16 at the time) and then he broke his leg anyway. When DVDV arrived it was Nigel Vagana and Kelly Shelford in the halves for the first few games.

As for his biggest mistake being playing Briers at fullback...? That was about 2 games. I can think of bigger mistakes DVDV made, signing Adam Doyle, letting Michael Eagar go after one season....

DVDV made some good signings though, Danny Farrar was a good player when he was here, and Danny Nutley was another good find. DVDV was often criticised for signing older Aussie players, people said he didn't care about young players, but he was not afraid to make bold decisions about giving young players a chance - he had a 17 year old Warren Stevens as starting prop in the first team, he picked a 19 year old Paul Wood out of the Academy, put him in the team and never dropped him, he gave Jamie Stenhouse a chance to be starting winger for a full season, he gave Dave Highton a chance to replace Farrar as first choice but Highton then failed a drugs test, he gave quite a few other young lads first team exposure - Alstead, Campbell, Cowell, Noone, some of them weren't up to it but DVDV was not afraid to give a young lad a crack.

As I was only 6 in 2001, I don't remember him.
I only remember the chant 'van der Velde's barmy army'
But from what I have read in Sallys post, he's set us up for the future with the youth set up.
Briers joined in 98 so it was DVDV who brought him here. Thank-you DVDV

you, go away, scour wikipedia, and get the centenary book the club released in year thingy, and the book warrington rlfc 1970-2000 and do your homework.

1998 indeed.

As sally says, we went with john duffy for a couple of games who then cracked his ankle, against, oldham down here i think adn we signed briers the week of the saints game at kr that year.

I'm too young to remember any of this....
I've scoured wiki and from what i've read DVDV joined in March '97 and Briers joined in '98

yeah, there was a 'frantic rush' to get him signed in time to register him to play Saints, and Saints panned us anyway by 60

Was Murphy still involved with the club when DVD was coach?

"B0LLOCKS"

Stood at a bus stop in Grappenhall with three mates waitng for a bus to Wilderspool. DVDV drives past and sees two young lads in Wire shirts (the rest of us weren't in wire shirts) and offers them a lift. Gets a big surprise when a few more people than expected pile into his BMW convertible. It was a bit a snug in the back.

Van de Velde was both very good and very bad for the club. He got the junior set-up going again after John Smith's cost-cutting exercise, which, when you think the core of our side was brought through from the reserves. On the flip side, he had a definite favouritism towards the Australian imports, which appeared to create a fractious squad, which showed in our highly consistent, inconsistent results.

Some very dark days a mere ten plus years ago, which makes you appreciate the strides we have made, both on, and off the field.

What's your evidence for this?
Sounds to me like another of those myths that fans make up with no basis.

I don't think a fractious squad was the problem in those days it was that we had a very unbalanced team, a lot of attacking threat but no real solidity especially in the backline (which is why losing Eagar was a bad move). We were lacking in defensive nous and structure and that wasn't available on the coaching staff at the time.

I reckon a lot of myths about coaches start on these forums and you wonder what basis people have for them, like people say Cullen ruined Kevin Penny.