Ultimately, playoff defeat to a team who were only there because of a late-season restructure seemed like a very Warrington way to end 2020.
The Wolves finished third in the regular season standings behind Grand Finalists Saints and Wigan but went out to a Hull FC side which had gatecrashed the party. The playoffs were expanded from four to six teams as the regular season descended into Covid chaos, allowing the black and whites to sneak in and dump Warrington out by virtue of a 27-14 victory. The 65-year wait for a title would go on.
The question of whether Warrington can finally end that drought will continue to be asked until they do it. Their 2021 bid will be coach Steve Price’s last. He has already made public his intention to leave the club at the end of the season. His three seasons in charge to date have brought silverware in the shape of the 2019 Challenge Cup but his tenure has mostly been a tale of almost but not quite. Defeat at Wembley a year previously was sandwiched between Grand Final losses to Wigan in both 2016 and 2018. This would be viewed as an impressive record at many clubs but should Price fail to make that final step towards Grand Final glory he is far more likely to be remembered for what he did not achieve than for what he did. That’s just the business he is in.
Belief in Warrington’s capability to be crowned champions is understandably low outside the club because of their history. That history goes back much further than Price’s arrival but it has led many to declare that news of Price’s departure emerging now will only hasten it. There don’t seem to be many who believe that it will have a galvanising ‘Last Dance’ effect like it did for Justin Holbrook at Saints in 2019 or Shaun Wane at Wigan the year before. For some the writing is already on the wall. With Daryl Powell having Steve Priced his own intentions to leave Castleford after the 2021 season there is growing speculation that the former Leeds boss will pitch up at the Halliwell Jones Stadium well before then.
But let’s get out of the DeLorean and stick to the present. In a bid to strengthen their hand Warrington have turned to former NRL behemoth Greg Inglis. The one time Melbourne Storm and South Sydney Rabbitohs man is a surprisingly youthful 34 but that doesn’t change the fact that he has not played rugby league since announcing his retirement in April 2019. Signing him now feels an awful lot like betting the whole house on red. Inglis is one of the greats of the game who if he produces anything like the form of his peak years could have a similar effect on Super League to the one that Ben Barba had in 2018. But while Peak Inglis would no doubt Barbarise the opposition there have to be serious doubts about whether we will see it. Two years out of the game is a long time particularly at age 34. Nevertheless with a record of 150 tries from 265 NRL appearances, 18 in 32 Origin appearances for Queensland and a further 31 in 39 caps for Australia the pedigree is beyond question.
The rest of Warrington’s recruitment is minimalist. Almost as if they either felt they didn’t need to strengthen too much or they wanted to wait to appoint Price’s successor before really reshape the squad. Aside from Inglis the most prominent arrival is prop forward Rob Mulhern who joins from Hull KR. Mulhern has made 110 appearances for Rovers since 2016, that after managing just five at his home town Leeds Rhinos. The 26 year-old’s form earned him an England call-up for the 44-6 defeat of France in 2018. This being rugby league where nationality is fluid, Mulhern has also made four appearances for Ireland.
Joining Mulhern in vying for game time in Warrington’s front row will be Rob Butler. Twenty-two year-old Butler has been with London Broncos since 2017 where he has made 40 appearances. That might seem like a fairly low figure over a four-year spell and there have been two loan spells at each of London Skolars and Coventry Bears during that time. Yet props tend to develop later than players in some other positions. Butler could be one for the future with 33 year-old Chris Hill entering his testimonial year and Mike Cooper now 32. Beyond those there is only Joe Philbin, Sitaleki Akauola and youngster Eribe Dorubu. The latter made his debut for the Wolves in a 12-10 victory over Castleford in September.
There were far more players ushered through the Warrington exit this off-season. Anthony Gelling’s Warrington future looked bleak from the moment he was charged with charged with assaulting his partner. He denies a charge of grievous bodily harm for which he will face trial in May. In the meantime the Wolves have cancelled his contract. On the field Gelling leaves a big hole which they have perhaps earmarked Inglis to fill in the centres. Gelling is an unpredictable, always watchable and skilful player but Inglis should still be an upgrade.
One man who hasn’t been so adequately replaced is Ben Murdoch-Masila. The former Salford man is now with New Zealand Warriors in the NRL after a three-season spell at Warrington. The Wolves will find it hard to replace his ability to impact the game and it is that physicality up front that looks a notch below what the other main title contenders have. That isn’t helped any by the fact that the emerging talent of Sammy Kibula was sent on loan to Newcastle Thunder before an Achilles injury wrecked his season in any case. Warrington have also let back rower Luis Johnson join Hull KR.
Also leaving is the versatile Harvey Livett who is joined this year at Salford by Declan Patton. The latter was a genuine halfback option for Warrington for quite some time but didn’t seem to be favoured by Price. Livett could also fill in at stand-off, so the loss of those two leaves injury-prone veteran Gareth Widdop as the only alternative outside of the talismanic Blake Austin. Riley Dean has shown great promise whenever he has been given an opportunity but he is currently on loan to York City Knights in the Championship.
The rest of the side should not change too much. If Inglis operates at centre then it’s a straight choice at fullback between the experience and class of Stefan Ratchford and the raw speed and excitement of Matty Ashton. When he’s not posting social media videos of himself scoring tries for Wigan against Warrington you can expect Josh Charnley to continue crossing the whitewash with great regularity. There is even less brain power on the opposite wing in the shape of government spokesman Tom Lineham but he is another who knows where the try-line is. Inside them Toby King has blossomed into one of the best English centres around and could form a devastating partnership with Inglis.
The back row has quality in England international Ben Currie and the ever consistent Jason Clark. It is also where you will find the new skipper with Jack Hughes appointed to replace Hill. Hughes has been a regular for Wire since making the move from Wigan and at 28 and having made 139 appearances for the club he certainly has the experience required of a leader.
Warrington start 2021 with a meeting with Castleford Tigers. That has an extra helping of intrigue now given the rumours around Powell, but is always a fixture which has the potential to entertain. Round 2 brings a clash with newly promoted Leigh Centurions at St Helens, before Hull FC, Catalans Dragons and Hull KR provide the opponents to complete the first five. The start has extra pressure on it for Wire in the context of Price’s intention to leave. A poor start will put his immediate future back on the agenda.
If Price survives all of that then his final five regular season fixtures include a trip to Huddersfield, meetings with both Saints and Wigan, a battle with Richard Marshall’s Salford Red Devils and a final day meeting with Castleford on the weekend of September 16-19.
If Powell is in the Tigers dugout that day and not the Warrington dugout then that may tell us something about Warrington’s chances in the playoffs. If I had to make a prediction now I’d suggest the 66th anniversary of Warrington’s last title win will pass without the holy grail having been captured.
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