WARRINGTON WOLVES chief executive Karl Fitzpatrick has revealed just how tough it got at the club during Daryl Powell’s tenure.
Powell was hired by the Wolves ahead of the 2022 Super League season on a three-year deal but lasted just 18 months before being given the axe in August 2023.
In fact, the former Castleford Tigers boss finished 11th in his first season before dropping to sixth midway through the 2023 season with seven losses from eight games.
That run was enough to see Powell lose his job, with Fitzpatrick recalling the most difficult part of Powell’s reign.
“It’s interesting how that narrative changes because you ask 95 per cent of our supporters and they would have given Daryl the job,” Fitzpatrick said on Sky Sports’ The Bench podcast.
“Things go wrong and then suddenly I need to go because I’m the one that hired Daryl. It was difficult and challenging.
“There was one game in particular, it was Hull KR away. At the time our confidence was rock bottom and any kind of adversity and the guys would crumble.
“It was the first time before any game – and I’ve been there 14 years – where I thought ‘we are in trouble here tonight’.
“The players, for some reason, went to the Village Hotel prior to the game in Leeds and not Hull to stop off and then there was a crash on the M62.
“There was a backlog of traffic and they had to put the kick-off back so the guys had to get changed on the bus.
“20 minutes in and we were 20 points down. We weren’t great and the whole of the away support was chanting for me to be sacked.
“My phone was lighting up, the abuse was coming through and that obviously wasn’t pleasant.”
Fitzpatrick believes that positivity was key in getting out of the other side.
“Because I was looking after myself, I was able to handle that. But when you walk in the office on a Monday morning and they look at you when we are not used to being in that situation, it’s important how you conduct yourself.
“Don’t get me wrong, I’m driving into work thinking ‘this is tough’ but I didn’t show that. You get to a stage where you give off that positive energy and you start believing you can get out of it.
“It was a great learning experience, it’s something I don’t want to go through any time soon but you learn a lot about yourself.”