WARRINGTON WOLVES have joined Leigh Leopards in tuning up for the new season by offering spectators a musical bonus at their first match.
The Leopards’ clash with Salford Red Devils on Friday will be preceded by a set from pop rock band Scouting for Girls, with owner Derek Beaumont insisting Rugby League clubs “are in the entertainment industry”.
And North-West indie group The Lathums will perform before Warrington’s meeting with Leeds Rhinos on Thursday for the opening clash of this season’s Super League competition.
The Lathums’ debut album, ‘How Beautiful Life Can Be’, reached number one in the UK charts last year, with the single ‘Say My Name’ voted as Radio X’s Record of the Year.
That song will be included on their second album, ‘From Nothing to a Little Bit More’, to be released next month.
“We’re really excited to have one of the UK’s hottest acts headline our season opener,” said Warrington chief executive Karl Fitzpatrick.
“We want to make a real statement on and off the field and I’ve no doubt The Lathums will enhance the spectacle and atmosphere at the Halliwell Jones Stadium.”
Further entertainment will be provided by a half-time world-record attempt, when reigning UK’s Strongest Man champion Paul Smith will attempt a ‘farmer’s walk’ carrying two 150kg decommissioned gas bottles, filled with steel and water, over 56 metres of the pitch.
While the venue is different, the Leeds fixture is a repeat of Warrington’s opening game last season, when a late victory at Headingley gave little indication of the difficult campaign awaiting Daryl Powell’s side.
After three consecutive wins, Powell’s first year at the helm turned sour with only six more victories and an eleventh-placed finish, the club’s worst of the Super League era.
Warrington have recruited in the off-season with Paul Vaughan, Josh McGuire, Gil Dudson and Sam Kasiano added to the pack and Josh Drinkwater to the halves.
Dudson will be unavailable after breaking a hand in the pre-season win over Leigh, while McGuire faces up to a six-match ban for using “unacceptable language” during that game, with his case to be heard by a tribunal tomorrow (Tuesday, February 14).
