an argument to rival some of Ducks

Absolutely no way he has gone to Australia without the owners agreement.

Maybe he's in their ear though to the point that they've both dropped about 15-25 points on their IQs and can no longer make sensible RL decisions?

He definitely has an input and if he doesn't then why is he even here in the first place? My point is that some of his tomfoolery makes the club look amateurish IMO and thats not a great look when trying to recruit players who want to win things. It looks like come to join Warrington it's a bit of a doss, even the CEO basically just clowns around all day. To be fair I didn't blame him for signings or performances as Moe suggested but I do think he is making the club look a bit like a circus. People learn on the job all the time and maybe he is going to get better on that front, maybe he does a great job as a CEO and some outside judgement is clouded by some of the visible stuff? But I still don't feel that the visible stuff is a good look for the club.

When Moz was signed everything the club did suggested we were seriously trying to win the big one, now it all just looks like soundbites, I am concerned that maybe players dont want to come here because they don't take us seriously as contenders anymore and I'm even more concerned that the current playing staff feel that way.and just don't believe it's possible at all, they certainly don't appear as driven towards that goal as the players did from 2009 to about 2015.

KF makes complete sense to be the one heading to Aus to talk to the players. Imagine if the head coach just went "see you later guys, i'm off to Australia for 3 weeks take care" So of course it's gonna be KF. Powell decides who we sign, contact will be made through the players managers, then KF goes over to talk to the players and sell the club more to them, simple as.
While i'm not excited for Dufty he'll only be on a 1 maybe 2 year deal, and if that adds more knowledge and experience to Thewlis' game long term that's a good thing.

That's not how it works in most other sports so why do we do it?

Usually, there is someone to oversee the sporting side of the business and the CEO should be left to focus on the business side.

This is our problem. NRL players who want to win things will choose Wigan and Saints over us if they are in for them too. The "this is a club going places" is a little less credible after a decade and a half of use. We either have to pay over the odds or go for the players Wigan and Saints don't want.

the RL world has shifted considerably in favour of the NRL since then (16 years ago)

I disagree Moe, DP was Cas coach and all he asked was that his back staff and 3 players out of contract come with him. He wasn’t building a team for 2022. He just put in some foundations he trusted where there was opportunity.
Unfortunately for Wire, his next opportunity for change can only come now for 2023.
Everything wrong with 2022, was down to Fitzpatrick and Price in 2021.

Thats true enough but we aren't the draw we used to be in any case. Saints and Wigan certainly still are though. It obviously helps that their youth development is prolific to say the least.

Back with dufty I think he may end up playing in the halves for us with thewlis staying at 1, I certainly hope so anyway.

Dufty 6
Thewlis 1
Ratchford utility
Dean reserves.

That is how I see it panning out.
Dufty played his best rugby at 6, perhaps he wants to play 6 and that’s why he’s coming Wire. Pretty sure Saints would have wanted him to play 1 this season had he not pulled out of the deal. Fortunately for Saints it turned out good because of the elevation of Welsby.

Powell has come right out and threw Dean under the bus, so that’ll be an end to any chance of him being a half in 2023. DP would rather play Peanut.

So I will say Dufty and Dudson are done deals.
Kassiano I’d say isn’t, but played like he was in the shop window with a fat pice tag.
Cooper is still wanted and in talks.
…and 2 other props, I suspect are the 2 from the NRL, Paul Vaughan and Thomas Mikaele.

From the tone of Charnley’s Twitter account, he’s been given a few truths from somewhere. He isn’t injured and wasn’t on the plane, I guess dropped, for sure, he isn’t playing anywhere near as good as Wrench has on the wing, and neither has King when Wrench has played centre.

King is fortunate he has a 3 year deal, my guess is that if his contract was up now instead of last season, he’d be free to talk elsewhere too.

haha. Hopefully not.....definitely squeeky bum time though...

Do we know if he's on marquee money I'm guessing not therefore do we have Widdop salary to get a BIG PROP

To be fair to mata'utia playing in the halves, it was proberbly the best game he's had for us. Bar 1 man of the match game at centre.
I didn't realise Dufty could play in the halves, i thought he was a specialist fullback?

All this talk of Powell throwing Dean under a bus... Has he actually done that? All he did was mention that Dean made a few errors in the heat of the moment during a press conference. I doubt Powell intended to lay the blame solely at Dean's feet, out that he said it to keep him grounded. He probably just blurted his thoughts out loud in a quick interview after a game.

Dean is a talent, and he's only played a few games. He's currently no worse than our other half backs, that's true, but also he doesn't yet look as assured as Thewlis for example, who's had a gentle introduction over the last year or so.

I doubt he's been thrown under the bus, and if we MUST sign Dufty I'd rather it be at half-back for one year, allowing Dean to develop with a gentle introduction in '22 and '23, and Thewlis to keep the place he's earned.

I maybe wrong, but Dean is the only person Powell has come out and publicly criticised this season.(apart from the referees that is). I'm still annoyed about it.

Powell didn't criticise any other player by name after the Wigan game and there were plenty others he could choose to criticise before Dean. As a head coach in pro sport he should know better than to blurt out criticism. It's got a lot of peoples backs up for sure.

i see the “KF is responsible for recruitment” opinion/rumour has seemingly become a self evident truth. I still don’t buy it except to the extent that he is told who to try and sign and he then gets on with it.

KF boasted about seeing Austin and getting him signed, I reckon he had the same cavalier approach with Sandow, only I think TS many not have wanted him.
Theres no getting away from things going really sour as soon as KF took the reins. Perhaps it’s all coincidence.

Draper was chief egg when we signed Sandow, it was nothing to do with fitz.

Though I'm sure you'll tell us you know otherwise

Thanks for that. I retract the Sandow comment.

He’s CEO.

And?

So you think he has no input into selection but just performs the contractual execution?

Is it the coach who decides who we sign - 100%?

What if the coach wants to sign a player that has courted controversy in the past - maybe assault or drug use, which would reflect poorly on the organisation's image - does the player still get signed?

What if the club know they are not extending the coach beyond the current season and the coach wants to sign a player to fit their playing style - what then?

Genuine questions, not disagreeing.

Still think we need a director of RL who can take a longer term view and joins up all things on the performance side.

It's certainly got peoples backs up who like getting their backs up. For others it doesn't mean much.
Move on.

When is a CEO not a CEO?

It is when the CEO is employed by Warrington Wolves RLFC.