SO Daryl Powell has departed Warrington while Andy Last has left Castleford, whose signing of Blake Austin was one of the more eye-catching pre-deadline moves.
Both coaching departures followed dire team performances.
Daryl was clearly under increasing pressure, given Warrington’s decline after a great start to this season, while Andy’s short tenure never got off the ground.
Only the players at the two clubs know if they were giving their all for their coach, but plenty of people will be pondering that.
I hated playing under Doug Laughton at Leeds, but always gave 100 percent. I wanted to win for myself, the club and the supporters.
I guess Daryl and Andy will take a bit of time to take stock and consider their next moves.
Various names are being bandied about at Warrington, including Newcastle Knights’ Adam O’Brien, Salford’s Paul Rowley, England coach Shaun Wane and former Warrington favourite Lee Briers.
I’m sure Lee would be a great option, and popular with the fans, but it’s hard to see him leaving Brisbane Broncos, especially with them flying so high in the NRL.
Obviously, Daryl has been linked with a return to Castleford, but perhaps they will go for John Kear, who has a reputation as a Red Adair type when it comes to relegation rescue acts.
As for Austin, I’ve never been impressed by his partnership with Aidan Sezer at Leeds, but it still seems strange they’ve let an experienced player go at this stage of the season when they still have it all to do to make the play-offs.
Castleford have it all to do to avoid the drop, and Austin has a big task ahead of him.
