STEFAN RATCHFORD insists belief is still strong at Warrington Wolves despite a dire run of form.
Warrington went into Sunday’s Super League game at Leeds Rhinos on a seven-match losing run in all competitions.
Daryl Powell lost his job as head coach as a result of the downturn, with Gary Chambers now in charge until the end of the season.
Warrington’s players have come under great criticism from disgruntled supporters but captain Ratchford says they all remain determined to turn things around.
They came close to doing it at Headingley on Sunday, going down to a narrow 24-22 defeat.
“It’s never nice losing any game, and the run that we’re on is disappointing,” said Ratchford.
“The flak we’re taking, that’s people’s opinions. We don’t really care. We know what we’re capable of as a squad.
“At the start of the year people were praising us, saying this is a great team. You don’t take much notice of that because you know how quickly it changes in sport.
“As we’ve seen, we’ve gone from ‘this is the best team in the world’, to ‘oh, they’re all useless’.
“You’ve got put that to one side and concentrate on what people say within the four walls we have as a group. We still have full trust and belief in each other.
“We’re the only ones who can sort this situation. Regardless of what people are saying, whether it’s fans or pundits, we’ve got to put that to one side and move on with the season ourselves.
“As a group we know we can still compete when we get it right. We just need to be more consistent in our actions and the stuff we’re doing.
“We’re showing it in glimpses but not doing it for long enough periods of time. We’ve got to get back to that.
“We still fully believe in ourselves. We can still do something. We just need to get the confidence back with a couple of wins and do stuff more consistently for longer periods. We’ve shown we can compete with the teams at the top end.”
Ratchford said there was no single reason why Powell’s year-and-a-half reign failed to bring success to the Wolves.
“A lot of stuff happened in Daryl’s time that would probably never happen normally,” he said.
“Last year he inherited a squad with 14 players out of contract and that was a difficult first year for him.
“Then we had a couple of bits earlier in the year with Tom Mikaele leaving after such a good start, the Josh McGuire situation, and injuries.
“A lot of stuff all came in a short space of time that led to us losing a few games, which then turns into a lack of confidence. Putting a run without a win cost Powelly his job.
“But I don’t think there was one point which cost him. It’s been an unfortunate situation of a number of events which led to it.
“You never want to see anyone lose their job. Unfortunately our performances over the last couple of months saw that happen.”
Now Warrington are under the charge of Chambers, who spent his whole playing career with the club. Chambers has stepped up from his role as head of youth, and will become director of rugby next year when Sam Burgess arrives as head coach.
“If you cut him open, he bleeds the club colours,” said Ratchford of Chambers.
“I couldn’t tell you how many years he’s been involved with the club. That shows the type of bloke he is, that the club wants him around and values him so much.
“It’s great to have him around in the first team now. He’s done a lot of great stuff with the youth development.
“It’s been a difficult few months, but he’s not been involved in the day to day, so he’s tried to give the lads a boost, put smiles on faces and get some confidence back within the group.”
