LEAGUE EXPRESS previews the new season for a club whose ambition may finally be matched by its achievements.
THE DEPARTURES
Warrington have seen six players depart the club in the close-season, also having lost the services of the iconic Greg Inglis last season, after he came out of retirement but only played three games before suffering an injury that made him rethink his decision to come out of retirement.
Former captain and prop forward Chris Hill, who played 255 Super League matches for the club since joining the Wolves in 2012, has departed for Huddersfield Giants at the age of 34, while winger Tom Lineham also heads across the Pennines to join Wakefield Trinity, having turned 30 last September, with 115 Super League matches under his belt in six seasons at the Halliwell Jones Stadium.
Stand-off half Blake Austin also turned 30 last year and he heads to Headingley after three seasons at Warrington, having played 59 Super League matches for the club. His Wolves career was effectively terminated when the club signed George Williams last season.
Perhaps the most surprising departure is the exciting but unpredictable Jake Mamo, a fourth player who will head across the Pennines, in his case to Castleford Tigers. Mamo joined the Wolves in 2019 after two seasons with Huddersfield Giants and scored 27 Super League tries for Warrington in 48 appearances, leaving behind some strong memories at the Halliwell Jones Stadium.
Another overseas star heading out of Warrington to join another Super League club is Sitaleki Akauola, who will head to Salford after four seasons at Warrington, during which time he made 60 appearances, 48 of them off the bench, and scored six tries.
The final departure is centre or winger Nathan Roebuck, a 22-year-old product of Saddleworth Rangers, who played just one Super League game for the Wolves in 2020. In 2021 he spent time on loan at both Leigh and Salford but failed to make any first-team appearances. In 2022 he has signed for Keighley Cougars.
THE ARRIVALS
The most significant arrival at Warrington in 2022 is the club’s new coach, Daryl Powell, who is expected to deliver big things this year and who is perhaps the biggest reason for the Wolves’ current position as second favourites after St Helens to win the title this year, being priced at 7/2 with Betfred as opposed to 6/1 before the start of last season.
Powell has brought two of his former Castleford squad with him in Peter Mata’utia and Oliver Holmes.
Holmes spent twelve seasons at Castleford, making 211 Super League appearances and scoring 42 tries. Still only 29, he has followed Powell to Warrington to enhance his chances of gaining a winners’ medal and he has been rewarded with squad number 12, suggesting he will be a starting player for his new club.
Mata’utia, 31, joined the Tigers in 2018, playing 63 Super League games in four seasons, scoring eleven tries, 58 goals and a field-goal in four seasons and, inheriting Greg Inglis’ number 3 shirt, he looks likely to start in the centres.
The Wolves have also invested in three other new forwards, with prop forward Joe Bullock arriving from Wigan, fellow prop James Harrison stepping up from the Championship with Featherstone Rovers (although he did play four Super League games for Leeds Rhinos in 2020) and Greek international Billy Magoulias their one signing the NRL, joining the Wolves from Cronulla Sharks.
Last but not least, they have snapped up centre or winger Greg Minikin from Hull Kingston Rovers. Minikin spent four seasons at Castleford under Powell from 2016, scoring 39 tries in 91 Super League appearances, before spending two years with the Robins, where he scored ten tries in 23 Super League appearances under Tony Smith.
THE SPINE
There are very few spines that are stronger on paper than Warrington’s will be in 2022.
Stefan Ratchford, Gareth Widdop, George Williams and Daryl Clark are all England internationals whose combined experience puts other club’s combinations in the shade. If they can all stay free of injury and play as well as they are capable of, then they will clearly be a threat to any opponents.
Those four are backed up by fullback Josh Thewlis, halfback Riley Dean and hooker Danny Walker, all of them young players who have significant experience with 18, three and forty Super League appearances between them, with Dean, 20, also having played eight Championship games for York in 2021. Matty Ashton has also demonstrated his talents at fullback in the absence of Ratchford.
THE PACK
There is only one change in the makeup of the Wolves’ forward squad numbers, with Oliver Holmes being awarded squad number 12 and Joe Philbin moving into the number 8 shirt.
And the starting lineup is backed up by a strong potential bench, which is likely to comprise Aussie Jason Clark, new arrival Joe Bullock, Billy Magoulias (although he has suffered an ankle injury in training and is likely to miss at least the first four weeks of the season), Robbie Mulhern, Matt Davis and James Harrison.
Behind that group of players is another set of young forwards who will all be seeking opportunities to make an impact on what could be a vital season for all of them.
That group includes Ellis Longstaff, Ellis Robson, Rob Butler, Eribe Doro, Jacob Gannon, Morgan Burgess and Tom Whitehead, with the latter three yet to make their first-team debuts with the Wolves.
THE THREEQUARTERS
The Wolves have lost Greg Inglis and Tom Lineham from their starting squad numbers from last season, and they are replaced with one newcomer, in Peter Mata’utia at number 3, and one promoted player, with Matty Ashton earning promotion from the number 17 shirt last season.
On the face of it, however, the club looks to be relatively short of backup talent for the threequarter positions, with Greg Minikin able to play wing or centre and Connor Wrench having already played eight Super League matches at centre for the club. Josh Thewlis is mainly a fullback but has also significant experience playing on the wing for the Wolves, having played 14 Super League matches for the club last season.
THE YOUNGSTERS
Warrington coach Daryl Powell almost has an embarrassment of riches in his squad, including a group of players aged under 21, all of whom will be itching to be selected in his matchday squad.
Riley Dean, 20, Eribe Doro, 20, Ellis Longstaff, 19, Josh Thewlis, 19, Connor Wrench, 20.
Jacob Gannon, 19, Morgan Burgess 19 and Tom Whitehead, 19 will all be looking for opportunities, but some of them are likely to get them in the first instance either in the reserves or on loan at other clubs, with Eribe Doro the first to head out of the door on a month’s loan at Widnes Vikings.
A REALISTIC AIM FOR 2022
To suggest that this could be Warrington’s year is becoming something of a cliché, but it’s as true this season as it ever was.
But will Daryl Powell and his squad be able to deliver the goods?
Warrington last won the Challenge Cup with a superb victory over St Helens in 2019, but on the other hand they haven’t won the Championship title since 1955, which seems an extraordinary amount of time for a club that has always been one of the biggest and most progressive in the game.
Last season, with Steve Price at the helm in his final season with the club, they bowed out of the Challenge Cup semi-final against Powell’s Castleford and then, in the opening round of the play-offs, they were nilled by Hull Kingston Rovers on their own ground.
That won’t be good enough in 2022.
Squad numbers: 1 Stefan Ratchford, 2 Josh Charnley, 3 Peter Mata’utia, 4 Toby King, 5 Matty Ashton, 6 Gareth Widdop, 7 George Williams, 8 Joe Philbin, 9 Daryl Clark, 10 Mike Cooper, 11 Ben Currie, 12 Oliver Holmes, 13 Jack Hughes, 14 Jason Clark, 15 Joe Bullock, 16 Danny Walker, 17 Matt Davis, 18 Billy Magoulias, 19 Robbie Mulhern, 20 James Harrison, 21 Greg Minikin, 22 Josh Thewlis, 23 Connor Wrench, 24 Ellis Longstaff, 25 Ellis Robson, 26 Rob Butler, 27 Riley Dean, 28 Eribe Doro, 29 Jacob Gannon, 30 Morgan Burgess, 31 Tom Whitehead.
Ins: Peter Mata’utia (Castleford Tigers), Oliver Holmes (Castleford Tigers), Joe Bullock (Wigan Warriors), Billy Magoulias (Cronulla Sharks), James Harrison (Featherstone Rovers), Greg Minikin (Hull Kingston Rovers)
Outs: Tom LIneham (Wakefield Trinity), Greg Inglis (retired), Blake Austin (Leeds Rhinos), Chris Hill (Huddersfield Giants), Jake Mamo (Castleford Tigers), Sitaleki Akauola (Salford Red Devils), Nathan Roebuck (Keighley Cougars)
Coaching team
Head Coach: Daryl Powell
Assistant Coach: Ryan Sheridan
Assistant Coach: Danny Evans
Head of Rugby Operations: Kylie Leuluai
Head of Analysts: Steve Mills
Head Physio: Nick Murphy
Head of Performance: Ade Gardner
Strength and Conditioning Coach: Chris Baron
Nutritionist: Antonia Roach
Assistant Physio: Adam Gummerson
Strength and Conditioning: Liam Myler
Head of Kit and Equipment: Pete Moran
Kit man: Bob Moore
Club management
Chairman: Stuart Middleton
Vice Chairman: Prof Steven Broomhead
Chief Executive: Karl Fitzpatrick
Head of Marketing: Liam Brown
Media and Communications Manager: Adam Leah
Fan Services and Community Marketeer: Claire Gamble
Head of Commercial: Gary Wilton
Ticketing and Membership Manager: Emma Wilson
Finance Manager: Neil Dowson
Operations Manager: Ben Kenwright
Head of Retail: Nicola Bell
Foundation Director: Neil Kelly
Club Colours
Home shirt: Primrose with blue hoops
Away Shirt: White with navy blue narrow stripes and sleeves
Betfred odds to win the Grand Final: 7/2
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