I watched a POD a few months ago where Sam Tomkins stated that he thought Tommy could be a head coach already even before it was known that Briers was going. He couldn't have praised him any higher therefore, on the assumption that ST knows what he is talking about I am quite excited that Tommy has joined the coaching team.

Player of the year Cooper
Breakthrough player Byrne. Would be more than happy if Ellis or Mago got this accolade if Byrne doesn't "kick on".
Fans scapegoat - i don't entirely understand why Powell gets so much incessant stick. He is obviously well respected by his team mates and his coaches. I would like him to develop his kicking game and his general attacking threat because as an ex halfback I assume that he has these qualities but doesn't show them as often as I would like. Maybe with Tommy in the coaching setup we may see a more expansive game from Powell in 2023. I'd love him to be player of the year in 2023.

Good shout on Byrne.

I actually felt last year was his breakthrough season, however I do expect him to really kick on again in 23 and be pushing to be recognised with an England call up in time for the World Cup in France.

I think it’s a funny time to come in to the coaching squad as our attack last year was great and mainly put down to briers. Tommy is solid and I’m sure it wasn’t a coincidence he got the assistant NZ job. He’ll need to make sure we keep performing and hopefully he can bring that extra for us to push to the final

I think Byrne is progressing quite nicely but I'm quite hopeful that there is still room for improvement.
Havard tends to get most of the plaudits,which on the whole I generally agree with however, Byrne really is a big lad and I'm hoping that 2023 is when he really delivers.
He's got the "quiet enforcer" about him which in today's climate is probably what is required to keep down any potential disciplinary issues.

After hearing Sam Tomkins I'm quite hopeful that Tommy will ease into the coaching setup without any major issues at all.
He seems to be very knowledgeable about the game and over his career has played for great coaches and has played with some really top class players.
I've got a feeling that he may become our "secret weapon" this year.Will be interesting to see how Smith develops and if Powell changes his style of play.

Be interesting to see if Gleeson ends up back in RL. He was very well thought of at Salford (who played some great rugby at the time) and that rep got him his gig in RU. Now he's not part of the England RU set-up, there's a potentially very good backs coach available.

I think he did some work with us last year. He would be a good addition for anyone. A shame we can’t get him in. Salfords attack looked great at the time he was there and he was an amazing player.

I’m looking forward to see what Duffy has to offer both in the reserves and 1st team has a lot of experience.

That isn't necessarily how it works though.

If you applied similar logic, Matty Peet only ever played at St Pats and has ended up coach of Wigan...

One addition on the staff I’ve not seen confirmed is Chris Barron (I think that’s his name and aka Bubble). He works with England and was at Wire. I noticed him in some of the pre season photos. That’s an interesting appointment after Briers going. Now I’m not saying Briers was just the club comedian/quiz master but I thought as much as we felt his coaching knowledge last year, we also benefitted from his personality and I think he really helped the team spirit.

The reason I make that point is that I’ve seen plenty of England training clips or behind the scenes stuff from Tours and Series here and Chris Barron seems to also bring that energy and the players seem to love him. He could really help soften the blow of Briers leaving in terms of keeping that team spirit going and making sure the place is an enjoyable environment.

Good spot - surprised we've brought in a new head of strength and conditioning without the club publicising it. Could be an important move if he does well - I'm sure many will remember the boost Mark Bitcon gave us in that area.

Fingers crossed. There are a couple of lads like Mago and KPP that you’d be interested to see what he can do with. I’d love to see KPP go in to the season with an extra stone or two on him, especially now he should be starting in the forwards (all being well).

Well there was a big gap between Peet taking over and playing. Peet has also has been earning his stripes over the years. It must be a massive change to get use to not being able to be on the field and influence a game.

Well there was a big gap between Peet taking over and playing. Peet has also has been earning his stripes over the years. It must be a massive change to get use to not being able to be on the field and influence a game.

On his Linkedin profile he started with us in December.
Not sure why it hasn't been announced.

He came from Warrington didn't he? They hardly stood out as being physically dominant and blowing teams away in the last quarter last year. May have been Powell's 'magic' touch though. We'll have to wait and see on this one

Tough to say if fitness was an issue at Wire. I think you may be right in terms of the blame laying at Powell’s door. When a team struggles, fans look for reasons all over the place and everyone gets heat, so I’m sure fingers will have been pointed by some fans. We had much the same under Lam, with people saying we were fit enough yet we looked fine last year under the same S and C guys.

A lack of energy late in games can just come from a lack of effort and momentum as much as anything. It’s amazing how much harder people can work and how much fitter they look when they’re motivated and happy. Any football fans on here could look at Marcus Rashford for an example of that. Walking football to playing in fast forward and that isn’t just conditioning IMO. .

As a Utd fan I don't think it is as simplistic as that. Yes being happy will no doubt influence his effort levels but it was widely reported that under OGS he was playing with a shoulder and an ankle injury and played on for far too long before finally having the operations he needed.

That was the biggest factor for me

Without going too far off topic, I think Some injuries were an issue for him and he lost confidence but his effort and energy levels were appalling last season. He looks stronger this season for sure but I don’t think this upturn is solely him feeling better physically. He has a manager pushing him and getting the best out of him and I think he’d have improved him in exactly the condition he was in last year as well (although granted maybe not to this degree).

The original point I made was basically that Wire being awful last season and not looking particularly energetic late in games doesn’t necessarily mean the head of S&C was poor at his job. It’s like George Williams looking lost for most of the season with Wire but he was then outstanding in the World Cup. When everything is going wrong at a club the majority of people feel the heat at some point but there was still some top class players and staff at Wire last year, so I’m not worrying too much about us taking a guy out of that club (a few guys including the couple of players we’ve signed recently).

Just a reminder, Whitehaven v Wigan game today is being shown live on Wigan t.v. Kick off 3 p.m. https://tv.wiganwarriors.com/

Just a reminder, Whitehaven v Wigan game today is being shown live on Wigan t.v. Kick off 3 p.m. https://tv.wiganwarriors.com/

Quote ="Rogues Gallery"Just a reminder, Whitehaven v Wigan game today is being shown live on Wigan t.v. Kick off 3 p.m. https://tv.wiganwarriors.com/'" Worth subbing to wigan tv now anyway if you don't plan on attending any of the friendlies or only 1. £5.99 for the month and get all 3 friendlies is good value.

Quote ="Rogues Gallery"Just a reminder, Whitehaven v Wigan game today is being shown live on Wigan t.v. Kick off 3 p.m. https://tv.wiganwarriors.com/'" Worth subbing to wigan tv now anyway if you don't plan on attending any of the friendlies or only 1. £5.99 for the month and get all 3 friendlies is good value.

Getting bullied by the bigger more experienced Whitehaven team.

Eckersley gone well.

Nsemba looks dangerous but needs to get involved much more looks to be hiding in the first 30.

Much better second half.

Astley, Hill, Forber, Butterfield, Eckersley and Nsemba (second half performance) were a cut above.

Great game for them against a physical Whitehaven side who were not there to make up the numbers.

Probably as close to a perfect friendly as you could get for the youngsters.

22-14 final score my stand out players Astley ,Hill and Forber

Great result against men but fitness and speed paid off.

Comms were good with good insight from Jack Phillips

Logan Astley impressed me, faster than I thought he was. Always supporting the ball carrier. Kicked well and good tempo to his passing game. “Aiming to play 10 games this year”

Forber fast out of dummy half and tackled above his weight. Has he good a first team number this year?

Ekersly (spell) is a physically a lot bigger than I thought. “He’ll play a few games for us”

Hill was outstanding and Ellis and Mago should be looking over their shoulders.

Expected a little more from Sutton and Nsemba. Sutton seemed to lack skill in key moments and Nsemba only seemed to want good ball.

Silva won’t make it at Wigan.