https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk ... h-20327039

https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk ... h-20327039

If that gets confirmed I'll be absolutely made up with that. I'll still be desperately unhappy this season every time we put in a poor performance, I still feel its a write off this year personally.

Good news.

Shrugs shoulders in a massive feeling of underwhelmment.

I've not been as disappointed since Alex Murphy promised us a "top class coach", and we ended up with DVDV

Blimey how negative can you get ... and please do not answer that one.
Who was your choice?

How did I know you'd be the first....
Who was my choice....probably Wane (bar the reputation for thuggery and bland play), BUT, he's a WINNER. Almost seems like a dirty word in British sport.

Hope he goes well for you. He's been a massive part of improving Cas and leaves with the thanks of most of our supporters.
The massive question mark over him is winning big games. We've put in some abject performances in finals, semi-finals and play-off games.

He’s been finding talent and selling them to keep the club solvent, and competitive. That’s record speaks for itself.
Very happy that Wane and his thuggery wasn’t on our radar. Wane did say he hadn’t been in contact with Wire over the vacancy.

Wane won with Wigan, doesn't mean he will win it with anyone else! Tony Smith won it with Leeds but that didn't bring us the trophy did it? If Powell had been at saints or Wigan over the last 10 years or so he would have won it before as well IMO but regardless previous experience of winning the superleague trophy is not essential and means absolutely nothing in terms of our future chances. Tony Smith got the Leeds job having never won superleague BTW, so Leeds aren't looking at trophy cabinets as cvs and it's working fine for them.

Powell is a great choice for us. The chances of us winning superleague are no less with Powell than they would be with Wane IMO. Main difference is that Powell is more likely to bring us a playing style that will make us want to get to the hj as often as we can. Motivate this group of players to enjoy their rugby, give them the freedom to play and we will have a team to be proud of and a great chance of winning trophies.

Your spot on with that Powell has turned a bunch of journey men players into a good team with a small budget I think it’s a great choice

Should fit in well then here.

Really pleased we've gone for a British coach instead of an aspiring assistant from down under.
Powell and Wane are at opposite poles in their RL philosophy and I'm still not sure who I would have wanted. Powell will bring some good attacking structure to us and he can certainly pick (on the face of it) questionable recruits and turn them into top SL performers. Just want this season over now
as Price will continue to bring us nothing but predictable,slow and frustrating play.
I bet a lot of the players will be happy with Powell's appointment.

So not Wane then?

You also wrote:
Powell is actually a very good coach who can actually coach a team and motivate his players.

So why so negative?

As I asked on Twitter, I wonder what this "rigorous selection process" was? I hope it wasn't a quick chat after full time after they took us to the cleaners after the first game of the season.

I think we'd have a better chance of winning trophies - on the face of it - with Wane based on his trophy cabinet but REALLY dislike his style of thugby.
But I agree with others on here that Powell would be a better fit.
I like his style of rugby and his ability to get the best out of the players at his disposal whilst bringing in some that are underrated. He'll also bring on the youth.

I do wonder though what all those who criticized his whinging over the past few years will think.... and say....

I'd already written off 2021 last autumn
GI is the only bright spot for me for us this year.

Fez I'll respond and will reconfirm that I'd have been happier with Wane and perhaps inexplicably, Powell's miserable, moaning fizz-hog was one of my main reasons that and Wane being a proven, local, winner.

However, as you and others have stated, he does have a reputation for decent, watchable rugby which might be just the thing we need, so I'm fully prepared to buy in and hopefully enjoy the next few years of his tenure.

Additionally, on reflection I'd sooner it was him than chancing our arm with another Aussie coach.

Hope he doesn't bring that creepy fella with the long hair and cap.

Jimmy Savile?

I agree he's far too busy doing the Great British Bake Off

Ryan Sheridan.

I think that he was also Powell`s assistant before they went to Castleford, so maybe Powell will want to bring him here?

Lee Briers` Wire career could be over?

Total opposite for me if this is true: I'm really pleased and think its the right appointment. Up there with bringing in TS in 2009 as a move that will get the club on the right path.

I would have been happy with any of McDermott, Wane and Powell and in the time since Price announced he was leaving at the end of the season, I've gone back and forth about which one of those I would want if given the choice.

I'd have been more reassured by McDermott and Wane's track records in winning trophies at big clubs but Powell has three big things in his favour:

1) He's been successful in different environments: Leeds, Featherstone and Cas were all different situations and he improved each one significantly from the situation he inherited. You never know how Wane/McDermott would do in a different environment (unless you can read much into McDermott at London and Toronto).

2) He's improved players that he's inherited or brought in as non-obvious signings. He changed the culture at Leeds from expensive big stars to the young hungry squad that TS later won with. When he took over Cas in 2013, if you saw what his 2017 squad would be on paper you would have said that looks like about 8th in SL, not one that would dominate the league season. He hasn't been a coach that has indulged himself in galactico signings, he has an eye for a signing and seems to improve guys when they play under him.

3) He plays attacking, expansive rugby. This will be a welcome change for us. One of the most creditable things about Cullen during his time here was he had a philosophy about us wanting to be an attacking team, from his early days ('get the nails out of Jon Clarke's feet') to wanting the pitch specifications at the HJ to be wide so he could bring in attacking strike players. We've lost that since about the mid point of the TS era, but I think Powell will revisit that. If the knock on him is "he hasn't won things and has come up short in big games", well that has been where we have been in recent years too...but I'd rather we came just short playing expansive positive rugby like Cas did, than what we have had recently.

I know people knock him for his dour Yorkshire demeanour and tendency to have a moan in press conferences, but he seems to be well regarded by players that play for him. I get the impression he's a serious coach who has no time for wasters and showboats and won't be trying to bullpoop the fans or players by trying to 'say all the right things'. Also people have complained about the 'jobs for the boys' culture at Warrington and he doesn't strike me as the type of guy who will be doing favours for people who aren't up to the job.

There are no guarantees with any appointment but all things considered I think this is a really positive move for the club and it has lifted a lot of the cynicism I've felt towards the club for a while now.

Great Post Sc, I couldn't agree more.

A few question marks here for me.

Who else was subject to the rigorous recruitment process? Is he a clear stand out (i.e. nobody else of note applied) or had he fought off competition? When successful coaches are semi-available (Wane/McDermott/Bennett) this question will be asked.

Why leave Cas now? He’s just secured the ‘core’ players that he needed. He has Evalds, Richardson, Trueman and McShane all locked in to contracts. Seems he had put together the key pieces of the puzzle, only to walk away.

What objectives have been set for his appointment to be successful? We have had a few Fitzpatrick debriefed after being dumped out of the play offs that suggested that Price was quite successful, even though not winning the big one (or he would have got the bullet years ago) I don’t think this view is shared with the fans, or should be shared across the board. I think a clear expectation should be set for what is DEMANDED from the role. And with that, set a realistic exit strategy.

I see why we got him, but I’m not overly excited by it.

Ah Sal, your insights have been one of the things I’ve missed the most during my sabbatical away from RLFANS. Superb post as always.