December 2007
27th December. Paul Cullen hopes that his winter signings will help to take the pressure off club captain Lee Briers. The 29-year-old half-back has been at the fulcrum of the side for almost a decade, but the arrival of Matt King, Chris Hicks, Louis Anderson and Michael Monaghan should bring more variety to the Wolves' play. Cullen said: "Lee Briers has definitely been over-burdened, he's been overused. "It's not by design, it's simply the way it's worked out. Instinctively, we've hit him on too many occasions because he and Martin Gleeson demand the ball more than any other players we've got. "When he's been good, we've been good, but he's played on far too many occasions when he's been carrying injuries and has been flat. "When he's been flat, we've been flat. We needed to address that balance. "On paper the squad is much stronger, but it's probably more important that it's more balanced. One thing follows another."
26th December.Warrington 18 Leigh 38. Even taking into account the number of young players on the Wire side this was a pretty abysmal display and Leigh fully deserved their win.Attn 4,022
21st December.Warrington and Wigan are in talks as to whether revive the New Years day fixture, formerly the Locker Cup between the clubs as a tribute to Mike Gregory, and call it the Gregory Cup,
The new Warrington Wolves 2007 Season Review DVD is now on sale at Wolfware and online priced at only £12.99.
20th December.Head. Coach Paul Cullen has named his seventeen-man squad to face Leigh on Boxing Day in the Domino's Pizza Boxing Day Challenge at The Halliwell Jones Stadium, kick off 3.00pm
1. Bridge.
2. Riley.
3. Bracek.
4. Westwood.
5. Blyth.
6. Grix
7. Briers.
8. Rauhihi.
9. Gleeson.
10. Pickersgill.
11. Mitchell.
12. Parker.
13. Harrison.
14. Roper.
15. Walker.
16. Cooper.
17. Neal.
* Please note this may be subject to change.
18th December. Matt King has arrived in Warrington from NRL champions Melbourne on a four-year contract. The 27-year-old Australian scored 60 tries in 91 matches for the Storm, his last coming in September's Grand Final win over Manly. I also had a couple of injuries with my shoulder, so I just thought there was more to life than football and decided to go and find it Matt King But he very nearly quit the sport five years ago. "When I was 22 I decided to have a year off," said the former bin man. "I had a rubbish job and was playing for a reserve-grade team that didn't have a first-grade team to aspire to. "I also had a couple of injuries with my shoulder, so I just thought there was more to life than football and decided to go and find it. "I left home and went to Sydney. I got lost a bit, just a country kid in the big city. "I had a good time but I got the bug back pretty quickly - and about three or four months later I was back in Sydney trying to play again. "It didn't work out there, so it was almost all over. "But I went back to Brisbane. Melbourne's feeder team is in Brisbane, and I was there for about three months and they asked me to go down to Melbourne. Two weeks later, I was playing first grade. King celebrates Melbourne's Grand Final victory over Manly King celebrates Melbourne's NRL Grand Final victory over Manly "It doesn't sound like an exciting story - but in my book it's pretty cool. "I'm 27 now and I just saw this is an opportunity to try something new but still do something I love. Now I'm here, I'm stoked. It's just the best ever."
14th December. Louis Anderson has joined the Wire squad for pre-season training, He will join the other Wire signings, Michael Monaghan and Chris Hicks at the club shop on Sunday, time 12 noon to 1.30pm to meet fans.Wire's new home shirt went on sale on Thursday, and more than 800 have already been sold a record for first-day sales.
13th December.Great Britain hooker Jon Clarke has agreed a new four-year contract with Wire. "I think this contract will take me through to the end of my playing days," said the 28-year-old international. The former Wigan player added: "The next four years are going to be the most exciting times in my career. "You only have to look at the signings on and off the field to realise this is the strongest position the club has been in for years." Clarke, who missed the second half of the 2006 season due to shoulder surgery, was utilised in a number of positions by Wolves coach Paul Cullen in an injury-hit 2007. Cullen said: "Jon has achieved international status through his professionalism and sheer determination and to do it whilst playing out of his best position for most of the season makes it even more remarkable. "He has earned his new deal the hard way and we are delighted to reward his effort."Speaking to the Warrington Guardian Jon said "Since the Great Britain games I've had one or two offers from elsewhere but I've enjoyed my time here over the last seven or eight years, even though we've never really won anything," he said. "Now we've got the best squad we've had in my time here so I really want to be part of it, get to a final and win some trophies. "I'm really pleased to sign a four-year contract at this stage of my career. I'm over the moon about it. "That pretty much makes the rest of my career secure because I'll be not far off finished by then. I'll be 33 and, although you never say never, I'll probably be looking at other avenues. "But I'm not thinking about that, I'm just really looking forward to the next four years." He said: "I'm happy to get it sorted and it's taken a burden off me. I can relax and concentrate on playing my best rugby.
7th December.Warrington Wolves are delighted to announce that Paul Stridgeon has been appointed as Warrington Wolves' new Head of Strength and Conditioning. The 27 year-old joins the club with immediate effect after five successful years - including three Zurich Premierships - with the current Heineken European Cup holders London Wasps RFC, where he was employed as Head of Conditioning.
5th December. Kevin Penny will be out for a month after breaking bones in his hand in an accident at home, he is expected to be ok for the start of the Super league season.
4th December.Warrington could be a grade A club in the SL criteria, only failing to score a point on No 9 criteria, geographical location. Saints will possibly be Grade B due to stadium and crowd deficiencies, Wigan will suffer due to salary cap problems,
The RSL criteria for Super League qualification, clubs will score a point for each of the following criteria they satisfy:
1 A stadium capacity of at least 12,000;
2 An average crowd of 10,000 or more;
3 An average crowd of more than 40 per cent of a club's stadium capacity;
4 Minimum turnover of at least £4 million per annum;
5 Solvency, in accordance with accounting definitions of solvency, although this criterion can be satisfied if there is a written owner's guarantee of the club's debts;
6 A reasonable playing strength, which is jikely to be satisfied if the club has finished the season in the top eight in each of the last three years;
7 A reasonable contribution to junior development, judged by the number of scholarships and the performances of the club's under-21 and under-18 Academy teams in the last three years;
8 The stadium meeting the standard of a premier sporting competition, which js judged on the quality and quantity of its facilities in accordance with detailed criteria;
9 Geographical position: clubs that are more than 20 miles away from any other likely Super League club will be allocated one point on this criterion;
10 Compliance with salary cap regulations. Specifically, clubs must not have incurred any breach of the salary cap in the last three years.
Criteria subject to RFL adjustment.