December 2002
26th December. Last December Warrington lost to Widnes at the Autoquest by 18-12 before almost 8,000 spectators,followed by 4 other defeats in the Rugby Super League , this year under new coach Paul Cullen they ran out 16-34 winners and that with a squad made up of seasoned pros and academy youngsters and with the overseas contingent still in Australia things could be on the up.The Wire were in impressive form as they brushed aside Widnes. Wire marched into an 18-0 lead at the interval after Rob Smyth (twice), Lee Penny and Nick Owen all went over at the Autoquest Stadium. Kevin Crowther, Ben Westwood and Jamie Durbin added further tries before the Widnes side rallied in the second half. Chris Giles, Adam Hughes and Paul Devlin tries made the score more respectable for the Vikings.
23rd December. Rugby League once again shows itself to be the family people orientated sport we all know and love. Moorfield under 13 A.R.L.F.C.player Peter Eccleston is to undergo one or possibly two kidney transplants which puts an end to any hopes he had of furthering a rugby league career at his favourite club Widnes Vikings ,he has been invited to play a starring role in the Boxing day Game between Widnes and Warrington,the 13 year old has been named at scrum half for the Widnes team and will be allowed to kick off and then feed the first scrum before being substituted,both clubs have agreed to play the first part of the game for the benefit of the youngster with no danger of him getting hurt.
Paul Cullen says that the rest of the game will be no friendly,Says Cullen "A friendly is completely the wrong name ,an analogy would be a friendly boxing match,well the moment someone delivers one on the chin it ceases being a friendly." We do not want to encourage laxity and we do not want to encourage a situation where we are not going to compete in every game we play in." We will have a genuine effort in this game whereby we are looking to compete and win.
19th December.Although Warrington could be missing up to 11 first team players in the Boxing Day game at Widnes Paul Cullen is determined to put an end to the run of four defeats against the Vikings.An opportunity is there for junior and senior academy players to show their ability and impress the coach,Domic, Grose, Burns, Appo and Nathen Wood will all be out of the country and will not be available for this game or the one against Leigh at Wilderspool on January 5th,Dean Busby (foot) andDale Laughton (back) will also be missing plus new signing Dean Gaskell is not ready following an off season ankle operation.Nick Fozzard Ian Sibbet and Mike Wainwright will all have check ups on what Cullen described as minor injuries from preseason training.In line for the game are Penny, Smyth, Crouthers ,Westwood ,Briers, Hulse ,Jon Clarke, Gleeson ,Paul Wood ,Stevens, Guisset ,Hilton ,Noone, Sturm and Mike Callon.
The landlord of the Bull's Head Church Street is inviting all past and present players from all of Warrington's Amateur Rugby League Clubs to attend a reunion at the pub on the afternoon of December 28th,a buffet will be provided and then a group photograph will be taken which will be put on display at the public house, should be quite a squeeze if more that a few turn up it aint the biggest pub in the shire by a long way.
Warrington Wolves official dancers on match days The Starlights will be having a presentation night and putting on a show at Wilderspool's Touchdown club on Friday Night 20th Dec. at 7.30pm,The Group coached by Danielle Foulkes have been given a three year contract by the Wolves and are currently running coaching sessions at junior senior and elite team level.
16th December.Work has finally begun in earnest on our new 14,000-seater stadium that will be our new home for the 2004 season. Building on the site, which used to be a brewery, should take 45 weeks. "We are absolutely delighted that work is finally under way on our new stadium," said chief executive Andy Gatcliff. "We look forward to watching the progress being made day by day, week by week. Our home opening game in Super League XI will be spectacular."
| 12th.December. All nine executive boxes have been taken at the new stadium before a brick has been laid. The Wolves are encouraging businesses to get on board with theWire and not miss out on the opportunity to get involved with the stadium which will be passed by over 2 million potential customers a year..The pitch at the new ground will be the biggest in Super League being 120 metres by 74 metres giving 10 metres clear at each end with a pitch length of 100 metres |  |
Players from all Wire teams will be involved in the games against Widnes @ Halton Stadium Boxing Day and Leigh @ Wilderspool January 5th, head coach Paul Cullen is busy recruiting players for the new under 21 academy team and some of these players will be turning out over the holidays.Warrington plan to go to Club La Scanta Lanzarote in late January for intensive training in the build up to the new season , overseas players who are not involved in the Leigh or Widnes games will be with the club in Spain.Cullen said "The Widnes and Leigh games will be an opportunity for our squad players to establish themselves , some guys coming back from injury will have a chance to check on their progress. "It'll be used as a fitness run for some players and some of the academy players as both junior and senior academy players will be given a chance to show their wares in a senior competative game.He further added " My policy as well is that I won't take my foot off the pedal in preparation for the Widnes and Leigh games,these are trial games that have come up well in advance of our peak time and we simply continue to work towards being ready for February,I will be taking a squad of 20 players to Lanzarote and these will be basically the team I expect to play against London Broncos at Wilderspool on the 2nd February. Wire have requested that they play senior academy games on a Wednesday so that any amateur players involved will be free to play for their clubs at weekend, junior academy matches are expected to be curtain raisers at Wire home games.
7th.December.Scrum Half Nathan Wood is to return to Australia for a knee operation,the injury which he was carrying last year is to be dealt with,he will also be getting married while he is in Australia.Other players in Australia are Sid Domic,Darren Burns,Brent Grose and Grahah Appo they will obviously not be available for the friendly's Warrington have lined up for the festive season.
6th.December.The council has backed a multi-million pound new stadium for The Wire. Warrington have been trying to move from its old ground, the Wilderspool stadium, for several years.The 14,000 capacity ground and adjoining superstore will be built on the site of the former Tetley Walker brewery. Work is expected to start in January and could be completed before Christmas next year. More on the plans
5th. December Warrington are working flat out to get an Under 21 team together after being refused an opt out for next season,rugby league is set to stop the u19's academy and the u17 academy and revert back to u 18's academyand u19's Alliance of past seasons.Paul Derby sgire will be in charge of the u21's with help fromJohn Thursfield and Dr Graham Scott who has returned from Chorley in a dual role which also sees him looking after medical matters,Cullen explains that there is no extra budget for the teams and the amateur game will be sourced for players,The Wire have called a meeting for Tuesday at Wilderspool for all interested parties to attend so that the club can make their intentions clear.