“I can’t control what’s happened in the past. All our talk and chat has been about new beginnings and there’s a lot of things we have changed and we’ll continue to change.”
After the dizzying heights of the 2016 Super League season, Warrington’s 2017 campaign was a train wreck in comparison. A ninth-place finish, and only nine wins in 23 matches, condemned the Wire to the Middle Eights. Avoiding relegation was straightforward, with seven straight victories, but the damage had been done.
Head coach Tony Smith, after nine years in charge, was gone. An apparent rift between the playing group was too much to repair and a fresh start was deemed to be needed. In total 14 players were shipped out, with seven new faces brought in. It was a massive overhaul, unlike any other club has experienced in recent memory. Joining the exodus was Smith’s assistant Richard Agar, as the cleanout was complete.
In the top job Smith has been replaced by another Australian in Steve Price. Club owner Simon Moran has opened his chequebook to allow Price to remake the side. In has come marquee man Tyrone Roberts from the NRL to replace Kurt Gidley in the halves. Salford’s star forward Ben Murdoch-Masila was snared for £175,000, while Bryson Goodwin and Mitch Brown were purchased from Leigh Centurions and youngster Luis Johnson was snapped up from Castleford Tigers for £45,000. No expense has been spared, with Andrew Henderson also arriving from London Broncos as an assistant coach.
“There’s a lot of change within the organisation,” Price tells The Sportsman.
“I’ve brought my own staff in, a lot of changes in personnel. It’s been a really enjoyable experience to date. The boys have worked really hard. There’s still a long way to go but the boys are ticking the right boxes.”
While on paper Warrington’s squad is strong and deep, and able to compete with the best in the competition, it will all come down to leadership of the 39-year-old former St George and Balmain player. How this team can gel together and respond to a new style, a new approach, a new leader in charge.
Price has been a coach for 15 years after his playing career ended abruptly because of twos serious knee injuries. He worked himself up through the Dragons lower grades, winning the 2005 Jersey Flegg title, before becoming Wayne Bennett’s assistant in 2010.
With Bennett at the joint-venture, the Dragons ended their long grand final drought that year. Two years later and Price took the top job when Bennett decamped to Newcastle. But it was a brief and turbulent spell as head coach – with 21 wins in 58 matches. Three months into the 2014 season, with the ‘Red V’ suffered six losses in a seven-game stretch, Price was axed.
“It’s a fantastic club, he reflects.
“I spent 14 fantastic years there. I had a great time there. It is what it is – how it turned out – but I like to think I’m a lot better person for it. I feel like I’m a lot more resilient from what I’ve gone through. It’s important that I keep growing and not make the mistakes I may have made in the past.”
Price bounced back to joining the staff of Cronulla coach Shane Flanagan, with the Sharks going on to premiership success in 2016. In six years he has been involved with two NRL grand final winning teams.
“I’ve worked under some fantastic coaches in Wayne Bennett, Nathan Brown and also Shane Flanagan,” Price admits.
“They’re totally different coaches in their own right and it’s important I be myself. I’ve taken bits from them from what I’ve learnt and they’ve been fantastic mentors to me. I’ve got a fantastic relationship with all three of them but it’s important I put my own spin on it.”
Price’s opportunity to jump back into the head coaching ranks has come with Warrington. It is a new beginning, not only for him, but for the Wire too. You get the impression that Price has learned plenty from his time in the NRL goldfish bowl and is better for the experience. Like at the Dragons, fan expectations are high at the Wolves. Grand final appearances and Challenge Cups have been common in the past decade, but the ultimate prize has eluded them. It has been 63 long years since Warrington won the league championship.
Price is not making any grand predictions about on-field performance. He is remaining tight-lipped at this stage on the style he wants his team to play, apart from a focus on effort and hard work. But the Australian is confident that the Wire can get back to being one of the elite clubs in England.
“It’s a great club, it’s got wonderful people involved in the organization, it’s well-resourced and it’s a club I definitely feel we can get back to being a top Super League club,” he says.
“I’d like to think I’ve got my own style that we’re implementing. It’s going to take a little bit of time. But that’s the joy of coaching, getting the best out of people.
“There’s been a lot of change, but in a beneficial way. My main focus here is to get Warrington Wolves back to being a powerhouse of Super League. That’s my main focus.”
