Warrington Wolves Chief Executive Karl Fitzpatrick is confident that his club’s supporters will see a greater attacking emphasis when they watch their team in 2022, compared to the fare served up in recent years.
With a new coach, Daryl Powell, having taken over from Australian Steve Pryce, Fitzpatrick believes Powell will deliver an attractive style of rugby to the Wolves supporters, who are hoping for their first Grand Final success in the Super League era.
“The biggest difference with Daryl is the attacking part of the game,” Fitzpatrick told League Express.
“His attention to detail and his attacking philosophy mean that he spends a lot of time on attacking preparation.
“In the recent past we have had the ability to score tries, but often it’s been down to individual brilliance, not to team cohesion.
“On the other hand, under Daryl we saw Castleford’s ability to open opposition teams up. Since he arrived, I’ve been very impressed by the preparation of the players, as well as their comments about the attacking structures they are being presented with.
“Daryl is also very ruthless and everyone is being held to a higher account.”
But it isn’t just Powell who is having a big impact at the Halliwell Jones Stadium.
“The support team of Ryan Sheridan and Danny Evans is playing a key role,” added Fitzpatrick.
“Ryan is a mad scientist and a bit of an anorak; there are no distractions for him, while Danny will be a conduit between the youth teams and the first team, developing those young players who get promoted into the first team and ensuring we get good feedback when they go out on loan.”
Meanwhile Fitzpatrick admits that he is delighted that Warrington will feature in the first Super League match to be broadcast free to air when they face Leeds Rhinos at Headingley in the opening round of games on 12 February. The clash will be broadcast by Channel 4 with a 12.30pm start.
“This is an incredible opportunity for the sport,” he said.
“We are delighted to be the first team to be on Channel 4. Sky have a great relationship with Channel 4 and we would be delighted to think that our performance on free-to-air would persuade more casual viewers to take out Sky subscriptions to watch Super League.”
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