State of Origin III: The Decider.

With the mid-season international on this side of the world taking up time on this side of the hemisphere, the final State of Origin match of 2008 has been ignored a little by me. That is, until now. Reason for this is because I feel internationals should take precedence over domestic competitions. If so, I would be commenting on the European Nations Shield and Pro Bowl. But as coverage and interest is limited, I am rather stuck.

Anyway back on topic, here are the teams for the final State of Origin decider.

NSW:

Brett Stewart,

Jarryd Hayne, Joel Monaghan, Matt Cooper, Anthony Quinn,

Braith Anasta,
Mitchell Pearce,

Willie Mason, Danny Buderus (capt), Brett White,
Craig Fitzgibbon, Ryan Hoffman,
Paul Gallen.

Kurt Gidley, Anthony Laffranchi, Ben Cross, Anthony Tupou.

QLD:

Karmichael Hunt,

Darius Boyd, Greg Inglis, Brent Tate, Israel Folau,

Johnathan Thurston,
Scott Prince,

Steve Price, Cameron Smith (capt), Petero Civoniceva,
Michael Crocker, Ashley Harrison,
Dallas Johnson.

Billy Slater, Ben Hannant, Nate Myles, Sam Thaiday.

One big change by Queensland is Ashley Harrison comes in at second row; otherwise there are no real changes to the side that thrashed NSW at Suncorp. Scott Prince will defiantly start for the maroons after Darren Lockyer was ruled out of the series indefinatly three weeks ago. For the home side I cannot recall a single change from the side beaten heavily in Brisbane. That is until I remembered Joel Monaghan will start centre in replace of, what looks like, Mark Gasnier.

The question is who will win? Queensland don’t like ANZ Stadium’s conditions on a Wednesday night with the moisture of the surface and coldness compared to being at home. However they by far have the better side, so mix the two together and you’ll have an exciting contest. Really it all depends how Mal Meninga’s side adapt to the conditions in Sydney, and end their dismal record at the Olympic Stadium.

Unfortunately, I will be on holiday the day of the game. So once I get back, the DVD will be on and this blog updated ASAP. Enjoy the game, and if you have my mobile number don’t bother texting me the score.

English Glee-son comes with a Pryce.

Forgive me for the tabloid style headline, but it shows who shone in a rejuvenated England’s first game in preparation for the World Cup. Against a French side that was mostly made up of Catalan Super League players, England brushed them aside in a eight points to fifty six win that saw Martin Gleeson and Leon Pryce put themselves in the pilot and co-pilot’s seats ahead of the flight to Australia at the end of the year.

Martin Gleeson finally showed his true form surrounded by higher quality players and a coach who is highly respected and with a proven track record. His hat-trick was the icing on the cake, which was set up in sponge by Saints stand off Leon Pryce. His performance, as critical as it was, showed his characteristics as a player who can lead as well as dominate an attacking side with the added quality of a halfback who can tackle. Peter Fox (who lost me a fiver not being first try-scorer) had a quite start for the majority of his debut, but capped it off with a fantastic team try in the corner despite the disappointment of a correctly disallowed try. However, I don’t feel the obstruction was sufficient to deny Fox of his try in the first half. But the grounding was a little suspect for my liking.

The game started off as expected, with England dominating the French line. But what wasn’t expected was a French lead as James Wynne exposed a huge hole in the English defence between Jamie Peacock and Keith Senior after a series of penalties, which left Paul Wellens in shock as he stumbled to try and prevent the try. However, England came back and after Gleeson and Pryce put England ahead, the French hit back. But after a penalty fifteen yards out from the English line and Peacock’s side on the back foot, Bosc chose to kick for goal at the annoyance of Jamal Fakir. Fa’asavalu took England into half time eight points ahead and the second forty saw the floodgates open and the pride of northern England (one for the traditionalists) ran in an extra forty points without reply.

It was a performance that suggested more could be done before October. That’s not to say we should be at our best now, but that we need to identify areas of improvement before the Welsh game so we can work on them before facing Papa New Guinea in Townsville. England were guilty in discipline tonight, which is unacceptable against the likes of New Zealand and Australia who will punish you for it. We also need to shake off any rust, as seen tonight with the French try and lack off communication between the centre and prop forward.

But otherwise it was a solid, well rounded attacking performance with areas of defence capable of being solid. Such evidence can be seen in that England had to concede five goal line drop outs throughout the game. But it’s not exactly doom and gloom for the French either. While the Catalan players are no doubt capable of keeping up with most of the English boys, it was the French domestic players that let the side down tonight. Their lack of stamina due to playing the French domestic season in winter, meant they were specific weak links in the line up, and were therefore exposed by a professional English outfit. Come October, these players will have undergone a pre-season training programme, with the possibility of a few domestic games under their belts, meaning their fitness will be an awful lot higher and at a standard capable of beating both Scotland and Fiji in Group B, and making it to the semi finals of the tournament.

For now however, the focus is Super League and the eventuality of the Grand Final, before any player can start to think of Australia and the World Cup. A World Cup that has the potential to see the English come away with the spoils on 22^nd November 2008.

English squad selected for mid-season French trip.

Sam Burgess - Bradford Bulls
Rob Burrow - Leeds Rhinos
Gareth Ellis - Leeds Rhinos
Marie Fa’asavalu - St. Helens
Peter Fox - Hull Kingston Rovers
Ade Gardner - St. Helens
Martin Gleeson - Warrington Wolves
Danny McGuire - Leeds Rhinos
Adrian Morley - Warrington Wolves
Jamie Peacock - Leeds Rhinos
Leon Pryce - St. Helens
James Roby - St. Helens
Keith Senior - Leeds Rhinos
Kevin Sinfield - Leeds Rhinos
Paul Wellens - St. Helens
Joe Westerman - Castleford Tigers
Ben Westwood - Warrington Wolves
James Graham - St. Helens
Jon Wilkin - St. Helens

Above are the nineteen players who will start the English revolution against France this Friday. From the looks of it, Tony Smith has kept to his word about selecting in-form players, minus the injury factor.

Peter Fox will no doubt make his international debut on the left wing with Ade Gardner on the right hand side. Although I am pretty sure his selection is due to Gareth Raynor being out for Hull FC. Unsurprisingly, Wellens will remain at fullback with Gleeson and Senior linking with Gardner and Fox in the centres. If I’m totally honest, Pryce and McGuire will have to prove themselves in training as to who will partner Burrow at stand off. That meaning I have no idea who should take the number six jersey. Likely hood is Pryce will wear it, with McGuire taking shirt number fourteen as a replacement for James Roby at hooker.

Starting props will no doubt be captin Peacock and Adrian Morley. Sam Burgess will cover as replacement with James Graham on the bench as substitute props. Ellis will be one of two second rowers to start, but with his recent positioning at centre to cover for Leeds this may not be such an obvious choice. Fa’asavalu can stake a claim in both the front and back rows, but is more likely to be positioned in the back. Wilkin is an obvious choice to partner him, but Ben Westwood has been a stand out player for Warrington in recent weeks. Anyone of those will make the starting seventeen, with one being left out of the team altogether.

The other player to miss out will likely be Westerman. Despite the kid’s good performances, competing with the likes of Sinfield who can provide a better option for conversions is no mean feat, and will probably be saved for the Welsh international a week after the Grand Final.

The French squad (taken from the BBC, so might not be reliable) looks like this: (Catalans Dragons unless stated): Eric Anselme (Leeds), Thomas Bosc, Laurent Carrasco (Toulouse), Remy Casty, Trent Clayton (Toulouse), Vincent Duport, Olivier Elima, Jamal Fakir, Adel Fellous (Widnes), Jerôme Guisset, Younes Khattabi, Gregory Mounis, Sebastien Raguin, Julien Rinaldi (Harlequins), Pierre Sabatie (Villeneuve), Teddy Saddaoui (Carcassonne), Cyril Staccul, James Wynne (Lezignan).

Toulouse sont réjouis à la vie dans Super Ligue. Devrions-nous leur donner?

With the summer international only a mere five days away at the Stade Ernest Wallon, it seems the Toulouse Olympique Rugby XIII will use this opportunity to convince travelling supporters, and the RFL, that they are deserving of a Super League license. Having just visited Perpignan to watch Warrington get thrashed, it seems the Toulouse application is a popular band wagon among Rugby à Treize supporters. The picture at the top of this post is actually an advertisement that we saw in various parts of Perpignan and Canet. It more or less makes awareness of the application as opposed of convincing punters to hand over their hard earned Euros. But if Toulouse are granted a SL place on 22^nd July for next season, how would this affect away supporters numbers in Perpignan and Toulouse and what are the ramifications for the locals?

Perpignan is not exactly the easiest place to get to. Plane tickets are not cheap and even making your own way from a major airport, such as Toulouse or Barcelona, is adding to the cost of the trip. Therefore, if Toulouse were to get the “Oui” vote from Red Hall, it would mean supporters would spend less money going to the city, an easier and cheaper place to get to, rather than explore and take a risk with the cost of going to the coast. Therefore numbers would take a dive in Perpignan due to supporters having to travel abroad twice in one season. Even that isn’t easy for hard-up northern families. Therefore the economy there will suffer due to decreased tourists from previous years.

But Perpignan and Toulouse offer all supporters different experiences. Perpignan is an easy twenty minutes from Canet, the beach resort. Perpignan is also small enough to create an atmosphere in the centre of the town where everyone can meet each other within a ten minute walk. Toulouse is a huge city, which can provide more entertainment and places to socialise, but doesn’t give you a sense of an atmospheric environment. As well as that, the tiny matter of a group of a thousand or more rugby supporters will not affect the city of Toulouse as much as they would in Perpignan or Canet. However, those that prefer a city break have the option to go to Toulouse, while those in need of a place in the sun go to Perpignan and watch Catalans.

But more importantly, how does their application fair as opposed to what the consequences are? I don’t know. But rumour has it Boots ‘n’ All gave the application six points and a B license. I still don’t want them to get in just yet.

Results keep Lowes in job until end of season.

So have Warrington let any one of Steve Folkes, Ellary Hanley or Graham Murray get away? Or do they have an ace up their sleeve in time for the off season? I’m fairly happy with the arrangement that Lowes gets to stay in charge for the off season, and then it looks like his performance as coach will be assessed before the board make another move. Or they already have someone lined up to take the coaching role on a permanent basis. Either way, the club are making sure the right coach is in charge for 2009. To me, it looks like they are writing this season off despite being in the top four and with ten games left.

Super League’s worst kept secret is confirmed.

The RFL have, today, announced that Super League will increase from twelve teams to fourteen in the wake of a licensing system starting in 2009. The increase will mean that all twelve clubs, plus two others from the National Leagues or France, are likely to compete on a basic home and away fixture list plus the May bank holiday “Magic Weekend”.

So who should be included in the competition next year? Well, I have one suggestion which I will not back down on. The list is, as follows;

Bradford Bulls

Catalan Dragons

Celtic Crusaders

Huddersfield Giants

Harlequins RL

Hull FC

Hull KR

Leeds Rhinos

Leigh Centurions

Salford City Reds

St Helens

Warrington Wolves

Widnes Vikings

Wigan Warriors

We don’t need another French team just yet, Super League isn’t ready. Wakefield have a poor stadium, and their finances are in a worse state than Northern Rock’s have been in recent months. As for Cas, see Wakefield. Whereas Fax and Featherstone are looking further down the line and into 2011. End of story, I await the RFL to make a huge blunder.

Have the RFL actually made a success of England RL?

I’ll admit I’m very suspicious of what the RFL try to do within our game with regard to changes. If I’m honest, can you blame me? With almost everything else they make another fine mess, so for once you’ll have to forgive me for changing my tune a little here. With regards to the change from Great Britain to England, I think the RFL are starting to get things right.

I’ll start with a major positive. Visit www.englandrl.co.uk to view a very brief but reasonable web site about the sports newest national side. It contains history about England in rugby league dating back to 1905 as well as explaining why the change from GB to England has occurred. There is also a blog from Tony Smith (well, more of an article with a lot a quotes) as well as upcoming fixtures (nothing about the fixture with Ireland) and even games for the little ones (which I cannot get the hang of). So to me, this part of the conversion looks great. It’s well presented, easy enough to navigate, very user friendly and there is even desktop wallpapers and a screen saver to download.

So with the launch of the web site comes something more important, to the fans at least, and that is the kit. What will the team will be wearing come October? The answer is, a St George’s cross above the sponsor on the chest. For one year only it will include the world cup logo, but that doesn’t mean it looks bad. In my opinion it is a fairly reasonable, eye pleasing piece of merchandise. Although I will probably have to see it in the flesh before I purchase one, and no doubt I will. Made by PUMA again with the backing of Gillette, it seems these partnerships with the RFL are improving year by year.

On the field however, there is little surprise as to who the captain will be. After taking over from Paul Sculthorpe after, err...zero games in charge in 2005, Peacock has lead by example and I have no qualms about his selection during the world cup. Providing he stays fit that is.

And finally, the less important bit. It has been announced, with some worry by yours truly, that a specially recorded anthem will be released before the world cup. The fact it is specially recorded and not just a cover worries me in the sense that a) what do the RFL know about music? b) How much input have they had? And c) how big a flop will it be? But surprisingly they have hired someone who most people would have heard of and who is a creditable young singer in his genre of music. Jonathan Ansell, known for being one of G4 (and its not the geek, fat one or the queer). The song will be called Hearts of England. Not exactly similar to Three Lions, but will no doubt (I hope) provide excitement and bring out emotion for fans on match days.

Unofficial exclusive – James Lowes is new Warrington coach.

After witnessing another Warrington win for the second week in a row, I have to say I am rather impressed with how the team have taken to life with James Lowes. And, unsurprisingly, I don’t think I’m the only one. After the game yesterday against Hull KR, Lord “Call me Doug” Hoyle was seen on the pitch shaking Lowes’ hand and patting him on the back. Maybe I’m jumping the gun, but it’s not everyday a club chairman walks onto the pitch after the game. So while it may seem Lowes will get the job, which won’t be announced until the local rag go to print, is it the right choice?

Possibly, maybe we should give him until the end of the season and then see where we stand. Then bring in a coach who Jimmy can work under, learn more under a coach who has proved himself, and then give him back the top job. I still have questions about his mentors and how Lowes will cope being surrounded by players with high reputations. But so far he is proving his worth. Unusually, he has a relaxed attitude for a coach and isn’t fazed with the pressure of coaching a potentially successful team.

But while performances have improved tenfold, there are still improvements to be done. Concentration and playing for eighty minutes are still one of them. Against Harlequins and Hull KR we conceded tries on the back of some terrific rugby. In London, we allowed Quins to claw back into the game while being a few scores ahead. And against KR, we lost concentration after fifteen minutes of the most organised rugby I’ve seen us play this season. But I’m not pointing the finger at Lowes on this one, don’t get me wrong. This is a problem Warrington has ALWAYS had, and is probably something we fans should be used to. It is something Lowes has to address though if he believes he is capable to take on the reins as head coach of a very valuable, if underachieving, rugby league club.

By the way, I’ve no idea what an unofficial exclusive is, but I just thought it was a different way of, not so much spreading a rumour based on possible truths, but predicting something that has a high chance of happening.

Focusing on Australia.

When I set this blog up, I intended it to cover all aspects of Rugby League. That includes foreign domestic competitions whenever any news should wind its way into my ears. But so far I have been increasingly taking any news from foreign competitions with a pinch of salt before turning the page in the League Express and start worrying about other things. This is especially true in the case of the NRL this year. So as Setanta Sports finally decide to show three regular season games for the first time this year in the build up to State of Origin II, I think its time I did a brief round up of how things are looking down under, starting with State of Origin II.

So it seems the Queensland selectors took my first piece of advice, drop Karmichael Hunt. Hunt has been selected to come off the bench for the maroons, probably to replace Billy Slater who somehow manages to keep the full back jersey. Steve Price meanwhile, is in for Carl Webb and a shuffle in the three-quarters means Darius Boyd is replacing Justin Hodges. But the big news is Darren Lockyer will play at five-eighth, however there is currently doubt over the fitness of Johnathan Thurston. Scott Prince has been drafted in as, what Mal Meninga calls “a safety net”.

South of the border, New South Wales were no doubt gutted to hear Jarryd Hayne will miss the second match and probably the series. Hayne received a three-match ban on Wednesday, which means he will have no chance of proving himself for selection in the lead up to the final match. Melbourne winger Steve Turner has been brought in to replace the Parramatta three-quarter. However the good news neutralises the bad, as Mark Gasnier was cleared to play centre for the blues after a hamstring scare. In the forwards, Craig Fitzgibbon starts at prop while Steve Simpson and Kurt Gidley will be benchwarmers for the second match. But after all of that I cannot see a blues victory, as the combination of Lockyer and Thurston will split the blues defence like an office paper shredder.

On the field, Sydney Roosters have had an impressive season after missing out on the play offs for the past two seasons. Brad Fittler showed last year his capabilities to be a coach guiding the Sydney side to a rather improved run of form compared to Chris Anderson’s. He has carried this on and managed to guide them to third place after seven games. Melbourne and Manly continue to dominate the head of the league ladder as well, just as they did last year but with more competition. Gold Coast have been the surprise form team this year in only their second season. Just missing out of the play offs in 2007, at one stage of the season they were leading the pack until a badly timed loss to Cronulla dropped them into joint second. Cronulla themselves were another side going strong in the early rounds of the competition, but never improved on early success slipping down a little before catching up with four other sides on sixteen points. Before the season started North Queensland were my tip for Grand Final glory. This seems to have been a mis-judgement as they are second to bottom above South Sydney, who are once again facing the wooden spoon after reaching the play offs last year for the first time since 1989.

Off-field its not good news for the Sydney clubs. NSW government has imposed new taxes, which are starting to cripple the leagues club’s income. Added to the factor of other laws such as a smoking ban and other similarities that are affecting British pubs in this country. League clubs are such a major source of income for Sydney based clubs due to the high amount of competition for supporters, as there are many different teams and sports going on in Sydney. Apart from the nine NRL clubs, there is the AFL’s Sydney Swans, Super 14’s New South Wales Waratahs, Sydney FC participating in the A-League and the New South Wales Blues in cricket. Although the last two are played in the Australian summer, it is still a burden on spectator’s pockets. So what do the Aussies do? Relocate a few Sydney sides? No. Do you not remember the ambitious idea Super League had in 1997? The three expansion clubs didn’t go down too well in Perth, Adelaide and Auckland. Melbourne came after the Super League War and, with league official’s brain in gear after successful attendances in State of Origin matches played at the MCG. But apart from stints eleven years ago, the ARL hasn’t really tried to expand the sport further apart than the eastern states. If the NRL were to relocate, the ARL has to start playing State of Origin matches in Perth, Adelaide and Darwin first, before setting up a club to locate there on a regular basis. But this is a complex idea for the stability of NRL clubs, whoever and wherever they may be. Not necessarily a solution.

P45’s, start your engines.

Yet another Super League coach was sacked today (Monday) making this the third job loss in the top-flight competition within the past fourteen days. Jon Sharp eventually left Huddersfield after the chairman, the fans, players and even neutrals had had enough with Huddersfield’s inconsistency, poor performances of late, and sliding decline in the league table.

The coaching unemployment club is now on a high having never gained so many members in a quick period like what is developed within the past two weeks. But what does all this mean? Wasn’t the end of promotion and relegation a way of securing job security for players and coaches alike? So why have there been three clubs with recently departed coaches, two of whom have been sacked and the other by mutual consent? It seems a coach’s job is not as secure as many would like to think.

You see, fans want success on the field. If they don’t get it and their team is under performing (and has been for quite a while) then straws will snap camel’s backs and fans will protest. Such scenes were witnessed at the Halliwell Jones Stadium after the bank holiday Monday game against Castleford. In other circumstances chairmen and board of directors will act after disappointing performances and a slide in the table, especially if there is deemed to be unrest within the playing camp. So there are three reasons for sacking a coach without the fear of relegation hanging over their heads.
It might seem like one predator has become extinct, but that only means there will now be more species out there looking for a coach to feed on.

Thank you, Paul. Now Warrington must move forward.

With Paul Cullen leaving Warrington on Monday, the club are now coach-less and are in need of a permanent replacement. Speculation surrounds who will take over with the front runners being Steve Folkes of Canterbury and Ellery Hanley of Doncaster. But according to the Warrington Guardian today (Thursday) the board are considering another option, which is most likely to be the permanent appointment of assistant James Lowes. However I cannot help but feel Lowes is not ready for such a big role within Super League.

“Jimmy” is a Grand Final and Challenge winner, former international and he has the winning mentality. He knows how to succeed and is able to cope with a limited but high amount of pressure. But since hanging up his boots and donning the JL tracksuit as assistant, he cannot possibly have learnt enough about how to coach a team judging by his past mentors. Karl Harrison and Paul Cullen do not; to me at least, suggest he has the ability to fulfil the team’s potential. He could possibly take over a lesser SL side and even a NL club, but with previously proven quality players such as Michael Monaghan, Matt King and Adrian Morley, Lowes is just too inexperienced to pick the side up and do their best for the remainder to the season. I’ll be quite happy for Jimmy to carry on as assistant, but until he has been mentored under a world class coach he will not be able to take the reigns of a team worth a lot of money.

So who is this world class coach we want? Well if you are looking outside Australia you may struggle. I’m not saying that because all the world class coaches may come from Sydney or Brisbane, I’m saying it because they do. Out of the current crop of British coaches in Super League, I’d only consider Brian Noble to be world class. And even then I’m pushing my luck. Richard Agar has only just been appointed his first head coach job; Steve McNamara has not won anything, let alone represented his country at any decent level; and as for Jon Sharp, not only does his current run of form poor but his past achievements at club level are worse than most. But not as worse than Brian McDermott, but to be fair he has only been in the Quins job for twelve months or thereabouts. As for John Kear, well you might as well shoot me now. While he has tasted success twice in the Challenge Cup (1998 & 2005) his league form is not quite as good. After Sheffield he was left as an assistant to Shaun McRae until he took the reins. After that he never improved the Hull league form but merely maintained it. And he is doing the same at Wakefield today. I’ll be disappointed if my club were to be tied with his in a Challenge Cup game, but as for the league, Kear’s form is average but consistency is excellent. In that I mean Wakefield are brilliant in being average, which is not what we’re looking for.

And if you want to shoot me if Kear becomes coach, I’ll let you perform the most in-humane act imaginable on me if Karl Harrison is appointed. Enough said.

Well as that rules out anyone British, the scouts must look in the land of convicts and across the ditch. I can think of four coaches that are respected highly enough in Rugby League to be considered world class. Wayne Bennett is one of them for obvious reasons. He has guided both Brisbane and Australia to success and is able to stamp his authority in any club he takes charge of. But however, he has signed on the dotted line at St George for the 2009 season so that rules him out. Ricky Stuart possesses similar characteristics and is currently the Australian national coach. I doubt he would give up that job any time soon, especially with the World Cup approaching. Craig Bellamy is an up-and-coming world class coach who is potentially the next national team coach but is also the current New South Wales coach, added to the fact he is earning success in Melbourne he will defiantly not be giving that up just to visit former Melbourne player Matt King. However my final world class coach is currently retired from the wonderful stress of coaching. In fact I cannot see him ever coaching in Super League if he were to make a return as the impression he makes in the media is that he hates our version of the sport. However he set up the regime for Sydney to become one of the biggest clubs in the early part of the decade and is currently the most successful NSW coach ever, having had two stints at the job. He is the least likely name to appear at Warrington but would be an enormous coup if he arrived. I seriously believe with the money at the clubs disposal that we at least try to persuade him to leave Australia and coach over on this side of the world. If he became head coach at Warrington there is little doubt the club would be instantly be challenging for honours. This mans name, is not Graham Murray.

When the news broke that Graham Murray had left North Queensland the same day as Peter Sharp, it seemed fate had thrown Hull an obvious candidate. Both were out of a job and both wanted to get back in the game, or did they? Graham Murray might have been NSW coach and a former Sydney coach, but he is by far not the best. In fact when Murray left Sydney, he left the club in such a mess Ricky Stuart couldn’t find a cure. But was it worth it for that one moment of success? The same has been done in Townsville. Murray dragged a poor side into a Grand Final in 2005 and has since seen them go so far downhill fast they even beat Jack and his broken crown. Albeit, Jill was a little disappointed to see her man come second, but North Queensland fans haven’t been too happy lately either with their position in the NRL and run of results. So it seems Graham Murray can take a side to success, but then leave them stranded when more work needs to be done. In affect, he is a short term solution. Getting him rid of after winning a trophy might seem suicide, but trust me with this man; it’s the way to go forward. Just as well he has gone into retirement since last week, leaving Hull with Agar, and Warrington with two front runners.

Ellery Hanley and Steve Folkes seem to be the bookies favourite. Both have had careers playing the sport at the highest level, and both have won Grand Finals in separate top flight competitions whilst coaching. But despite the similarities, one is a rather controversial character than the other. Ellery Hanley was never liked at St Helens by the board of directors and would rather do things his own way than anyone else’s. This makes me wonder if he is the right man to take control of a club that has been under the control of a coach with a democratic coaching style. While it would be a good for the first team squad who would get a kick up the backside after six years under loose control, would it be good for the development of youth players if Hanley were to come in and demand instant changes? Would he be more likely to look overseas for a short term fix to an injury crisis rather than closer to home? If he does things his own way, how many people would he upset before team cohesion breaks down and is eventually sacked? Whereas Hanley is a “I demand respect” person, Steve Folkes comes across as more of another Paul Cullen, only better and with a record of two Grand Finals and one Premiership. (Three GFs if Canterbury hadn’t broken the salary cap in 2002) He is the only coach to have publically came out to the media and said he wants the Warrington job. And with performances on the slide with Canterbury after over ten years in charge, a change in personnel would no doubt be good for the Canterbury club and the coaching individual himself. And having coached some of the best players currently in the game in Sonny Bill Williams, Hazem El Mazari, Steve Price and Willie Mason, he no doubt will earn respect of the current Warrington squad having worked with big named international players beforehand.

So, Steve Folkes it is then? Well he is the most likely person to take over the reigns apart from James Lowes. But what about that remaining world class coach I failed to mention? The one with many Premierships and is the most successful New South Wales coach ever. Is there any chance Warrington can bring Phil Gould out of coaching retirement?

Short answer; probably not. Long answer; not a cat in hells chance, go back home you pommy git. But remember, this is a club that dared to sign Andrew Johns on a temporary basis. This is the club that has had ambitions to succeed for a very long time. Warrington are currently like a racing car. They have the carbon fibre bodywork (stadium and facilities), they have the suitable parts to compete at the front of the grid (players), but are lacking a suitable driver (coach). For the past six years they have been driven by Jenson Button. Good to begin with but slowly drifted off to the back end of the pack. Now we need a Michael Schumacher, someone who will take us there to major finals and will do so consistently. I believe Phil Gould will do so a thing and do it with style. I don’t care who lifts that trophy at the end of the day, so long as the person doing so is wearing the primrose and blue of Warrington Wolves.

To summarise, I would love for our next coach to be Phil Gould. But realistically out of the possible contenders, for me it has to be Steve Folkes. Ellery Hanley is too much of a risk of blowing the club apart and James Lowes is too inexperienced to handle such a high profile role with plenty of pressure.