July 2002
27th July.WARRINGTON 14-42 HULL. This was definately a game of two halves to use a well worn term,Warrington led 14-6 at half time although the Kohe-Love try for Hull was shown on the big screen as a dropped ball although referee Connolly did a Harrigan a refused a video ref opinion,the second half was a complete reversal of the first half as Warrington undid all the good work of the first half and allowed Hull to dominate ,the score did not reflect the good work the Wire did during the whole game.Warrington Tries: Westwood (2),Goals: Briers (3).Hull Raynor (2) Mackay Kohe-Love Crowther (2) Carvell , Crowther (7) .H/T: 14-6 Att: 4,416.
25th July.Halifax have recalled on loan David Halliwell ,top try scorer for the Wolves Halliwell will therefore not be available for the Wires game against Hull on Saturday ( live Sky Sports),whilst Halifax have every right to take their player back the question has to be asked, is the fact that Halliwell is really making a contribution to the Wires efforts to avoid relegation and Halifax are sinking nearer to the zone anything to do with the decision.Better news for Warrington came when Jon Clarke and Mark Hilton have decided to sign new contracts ,they will put pen to paper tomorrow "Friday".Halliwell's recall to Haliax has meant a rethink for David Plange he had hoped to switch Halliwell to centre and move Darren Burns back into the second row for the Hull game but a rethink is now on the cards.Graham Appo is a possibility to repace Halliwell conditional on him recovering from an ankle injury.Darren Burns has a scratched eye and Sid Domic is recovering from illness both face fitness tests before the game on Saturday.Dean Busby is included in the 17 after recovering from knee ligament damage.
David Plange intends to speak to the RFL about a number of refereeing decisions which were dubious to say the least,Plange said"I have never been one to shout and complain but there are serious issues which need to be loked at.There were three instances on Sunday "via Salford"which I was particularly annoyed by.A teams Super League status could be affected by such decisions and this is something I find totally unacceptable,week in week out we find ourselves on the end of decisions some of which are extremely dubious.
21st July.It was obvious from the kick off that this game would not be a classic with the spectre of relegation hanging like the Sword of Damacles over both teams, tense backsides were the order of the day.Warrington started well but good lead up play was spoiled by poor finishing and a couple of tries went begging ,Salford had as many chances as the Wire but the same poor finishing was the result Briers got the scoring started with a penalty only for Salford to score twice to go 3-2 up Halliwells interception and a Briers late try sealed it for the Wire..WARRINGTON WOLVES 18 Tries: Halliwell, Briers ,Goals: Briers 5 .SALFORD CITY REDS 9 Tries: Baynes ,Goals: Blakeley 2, DG: Watson. Venue: Wilderspool (Warrington) Crowd: 5,700.
18th July.Lee Briers,Mark Hilton and Jon Clarke have all intimated the desire to stay with the Wolves when present contracts expire.Briers has received a new offer from Warrington but has decided to concentrate on keeping the Wire in Super League and has put any decisions to one side.Changes in the pack are required the first in 4 games due to Dale Laughton's injury ,Nick Fozzard switches from second row to prop,Jerome Guisset will be in the back row and Dean Busby back after 3 months out through injury will be a sub,in what is basically the team that played Widnes last week.David Plange was impressed by Guisset's improvement in form which has resulted in him being named in the starting line up Plange explaines" Jez lost form a month ago and it got to him but we have been working on his strengths and simplifying his game and he fully deserves his starting spot".
Kevin Crouthers, Rob Smyth and Reroy Rivett stay on the sidelines as on loan Leeds teenager Richie Mathers continues to impress ,he will continue on the bench after making his debut against Widnes.Sid Domic who only managed half a game vs Widnes has had a few days to recover from a mystery illness is named in the side for Sundays game ko 3.00pm.Wire leading try scorer Danny Halliwell will remain at the club on a week to week basis after Halifax refused to sanction the Wolves taking him to the end of the season,Halliwell told Halifax he was enjoying his Rugby at Warrington and Halifax have agreed to him staying at Wilderspool under condition that should he be required for emergency cover at Halifax he will return.
All attention turns to Sunday with the visit of fellow relegation rivals Salford to Wilderspool,persistant thorn in the side of Warrington Bobby Goulding is expected to return to the Salford team after missing two games with a pelvic injury.Salford now coached by Karl Harrison are level on points with Warrington and both are just 2 points clear of bottom club Wakefield who parted company with coach Peter Roe yesterday
15th July.Warrington fell to Widnes for the second time this season in a tough encounter at the Halton Stadium,the Wire built up a 14-12 advantage at half time it could have been more but Lee Briers trusty boot failed him on two occations,with 7 minutes remaining Widnes hung on at 20-18 then a Steve Carter break sealed the points for the Vikings. Widnes Tries;Haggerty , Spruce, Hughes, Goals;Eaton 2 ,Hughes 2. Warrington Tries;Halliwell, Guisset 2,N.Wood,Goal; Briers attn ,7883
6th July.GB boss David Waite has named Lee Briers and Nick Fozzard in a shadow squad of 13 for the one-off Test against Australia in Sydney on July 12. If there are any injuries to players out there this week , the back-up names could find themselves on a plane down under to bolster the Lions' ranks. Many at Warrington think Briers should have been out there on merit as first choice.
July 4th .Supplemental.Warrington Wolves stun high fliers Leeds Rhinos .Headingley Wire got off to the seemingly usual slow start against Leeds conceding two tries in the first Quarter.Wire were 22-6 down at one point ,however two tries from Ben Wsetwood in the first half saw Wire back in the game,Halliwell added another in the second half to give the Wire thoughts off victory,Sid Domic somehow manage to wriggle over late on to set up an exciting finish,Lee Briers saw Warrington to victory with a late drop goal ,so late was it that Sky Sports initially gave the result as a draw 22-22 before amending it to 22-23 to Warrington.Warrington: Tries Westwood 2, Halliwell 1 ,Domic 1 Goals Briers 3, Drop Goals 1.Leeds:Tries Calderwood 1,Pratt 1 Hay1, Walker 1.
July 4th. David Plange has insisted that Warrington are too good to go down,when I look at the teams around us and then look at the players we have I am not expecting relegation."No disrespect to Salford and Wakefield but there is no doubt in my mind that we are in a far stronger position with the players we have on our books."For this reason I am absolutely certain that we will not be ending the season at the bottom of the table,our destiny is in our own hands and everyone here is in a strong frame of mind."We have more than enough ability to climb away from the danger zone over the next few weeks.In fact if we can overcome Leeds on Thursday 4th I can see us in a situation where we could win four games on the trot.
Plange takes the plunge for Briers: David Plange is ready to give all in an effort to keep Lee Briers at Wilderspool,Plange is on record as saying that Briers is an irreplacable member of the Warrington squad,and he will pass this on to the board on Friday.Efforts are also being made to keep Tommy O'Reilly and Jon Clarke at the club when their contracts run out at the end of the season.Plange said" I am already targeting players both home and abroad with a view to assembling a stronger squad for next season.
Lee Penny's return did not go as he would have wished when the Wire played his hometown club Wigan last weekend," Since I broke my wrist against Wigan last April ,I have found it very frustrating sitting on the sidelines especially as the team is struggling.I am now fighting fit and I hope I can help turn around the clubs fortunes and indeed my own fortunes.I had big hopes for this year my testimonial year but I have not played anywhere near the amount of games I would have liked.Although pleased with his game against Wigan,He said " It is always a bitter pill to swallow to lose to your hometown club,but we can have no complaints about the result." Our defence was simply not good enough in the first half and David rightly gave us a roasting at half time." To our credit we played better in the second half and we had Wigan on the ropes,some of our attacking play was outstanding .If we can produce that sort of form in future games we will soon pick up the points that we need to be safe from relrgation.
83 year old Edith Spilling gave the Wire players a telling off at a wolves fans forum as she told the players how to tackle,the club took the opportunity of to make use of her wisdom and invited her along to a training session.Edith has been cheering on the Wire since 1925,but she has been very disappointed at the Wires worst start to a season she has ever witnessed,so she went down to the Wolves Wilderspool headquarters to teach the team how tackle,Edith who lives in Orford and was very vocal at the public enquiry that helped secure the new stadium for the Wire." It has been brilliant all the players are missing is a bit of confidence in their ability to do it"She hopes that the players will pick up in the second half of the season and win the battle against relegation.Edith gets a grip of the Wire Picture.
Bolton Wanderers and Manchester United are rumoured to be in the frame to partner the Wire at their new stadium,it is thought that Bolton are looking for a ground to use for reserve team matches,club chief executive Andy Gartside is saying nowt about the rumours even though the Wire have had a number of links between the two clubs.He also strongly denied reports that Manchester United are in the picture over sharing the ground during the Rugby League close season,United's reserves which at the moment play their games at Bury's Gigg lane ground but were on the look out for a new venue it appears however that they will now play at Altrincham's ground.Mr Gartfield said that a groung sharing agreement had been drawn up and at present it was in the hands of the potential partner for their agreement.
Crosfields under 10's Rugby League team will be holding a celebration night on the 12 July due to the teams improvement in form since the start of the 2001/02 season under coach Tony Evans.
Players in waiting. Warrington Wolves players will be dishing out more that punishment on the field,at an event to raise money for Lee Penny's testimonial they will be taking over as waiters for the evening at a Ladies Night on the 18th July 7.30 for an 8;00 start.Tickets for the event are available from Julie Cleave on 01925 240000.