WAKEFIELD coach Daryl Powell is confident he will succeed in 2024 after a rocky tenure Warrington.
The former Castleford boss led the Wolves to eleventh place in Super League in 2022, before a collapse in form last year saw him depart at the end of July.
Ironically his final game with Warrington was a 42-6 hammering by Wakefield, before being appointed by new Trinity owner Matt Ellis to take the reins at Belle Vue.
“It was a tough experience (at Warrington) but I feel at home here. This is a place where I can be at my best,” Powell told League Express.
“That was always going to be the case, once Matt took over.
“Matt wants to build something special and I love a project that I can get my teeth into and grow a good culture and environment. It’s a perfect job for me.”
Rumours have been swirling that veteran halfback Luke Gale was interesting Hull KR, but Powell insisted: “Luke is not going anywhere.
“He’s not in the squad (to play Wigan on Friday) because he’s picked up a bit of a calf strain. But he’s all in. I want him to be here long term and I think he’ll be an outstanding coach in the future.
“He is a great organiser on the field and he’s had an awesome pre-season, winning fitness tests and at his age that’s a testament to his professionalism.”
Trinity have signed a dual-registration agreement with Wigan for 2024 but Powell admits it’s hard to foresee exactly how it will unfold.
“When I spoke to Matty Peet about the dual-registration, we were pretty flexible with it,” said Powell.
“It’s difficult to know how it’s going to go because neither side knows how many injuries they are going to get. We will be running a reserve side but we are quite small as a squad.”
Meanwhile Powell reflects ruefully on his time at Warrington: “I was given a brief that I went after, but maybe I went after it too hard and it didn’t quite work the way I wanted it to.
“You can change a culture if a group wants to change it, which I’ve seen numerous times in my career, but if they don’t, it’s very difficult.”
