George Williams admits Warrington players cost axed coach Daryl Powell his job
England captain George Williams knows Warrington’s players cost boss Daryl Powell his job - but maintains they can still charge to Old Trafford.
Wolves host Super League leaders Catalans tomorrow night just five days on from a humiliating 42-6 hammering at bottom-placed Wakefield. That embarrassment saw Powell axed and head of youth Gary Chambers put in interim charge for tomorrow's game. Early leaders Warrington won their opening eight games but have nosedived to sixth after alarmingly losing eight of their last nine.
Stand-off Williams, who returned from injury in the Wakefield rout, insisted he and his erring team-mates must take the blame for Powell’s sacking. He said: “We’re out there dishing up the rubbish we have for the last eight weeks - maybe more - so we’re 100 percent accountable for that. That’s why Powelly probably lost his job in the end: we’ve not been good enough and you can point fingers as much as you want but it’s down to the players.”
Reports Down Under say ex-St Helens boss Justin Holbrook has rejected Warrington’s offer for him to be their next man in charge, preferring to take on an NRL assistant’s gig instead. But, for now, and regardless of who takes over, all Williams is intent on doing is ensuring the squad turn around Wolves’ disastrous form. He insisted: “The mood’s good. We were obviously disappointed at the start of the week. There’s been a weird vibe. Obviously, you don't want anyone to lose their job.
“But as a playing group we just have to move forward. We thank Daryl for everything he’s done but we can’t dwell on it too much. He’s been good for the club and good for a lot of players but, unfortunately, that’s sport. We have to look forward to a new challenge.”
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He accepts Warrington must start winning again immediately if they are to have any hope of making the play-offs, let alone a serious title challenge. Williams, 28, said: “It does have to start now. But the good thing is, it only takes eight weeks of momentum and, as you saw at the back end of last year with Leeds, they went on a good run and made the Grand Final.
Warrington Wolves' George Williams (Mark Cosgrove/News Images)“We started like a house on fire. We fell off massively but we’ve eight weeks to right some wrongs. We’re being written off completely now but believe - in our four walls - we can turn this around.”
And Warrington do have form against Catalans having knocked them out of the Challenge Cup and also - when down to 12 men - winning a Super League game in Perpignan in April. Williams said: “We’ve been over to France, which is always a tough place to go, and turned them over twice.
"We’ll have to show that same energy, commitment and high intensity as we did on those occasions as obviously last week we had none of that. It’s about us returning to what we’re good at - and doing it pretty quickly.”
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