The news that Steve Price's fourth season as Warrington coach will be his last broke last night, with the club confirming the Australian's intention to return home at the end of the 2021 campaign.
My initial reaction was one of very little surprise - Price was out of contract at the end of this year and hadn't done enough in his first three years to earn another one - so a departure was to be expected. I do feel surprised at the timing of the announcement, just over a month before the start of the new season, but it does give the club ample time to source a replacement. More on that later.
Price was faced with a challenging task upon joining the Wire in 2018. He hadn't been a head coach for four years and had to replace Tony Smith, who had served the club for nearly a decade. Smith's final season in charge, 2017, had been a disaster, with Warrington fighting for their Super League status after finishing 9th in the league. So, Price had a rebuilding job on his hands. But, it was still a talented squad, a point emphasised by how many of the players Price inherited are still here.
2018 was a year of what felt like real progress under Price. Wire finished 4th, an improvement on the previous campaign, and reached the Challenge Cup Final, famously nilling Wigan on the way there. Unfortunately, Warrington turned in a very poor performance at Wembley and Price's hopes of winning his first final in charge were ended by Catalans Dragons. Two months later though, bigger prizes were at stake when Warrington booked their place at Old Trafford after beating runaway league leaders St Helens in the playoff semi-final away from home, Tom Lineham scoring twice as Man of Steel Ben Barba's final appearance for Saints ended in defeat - definitely one of the best memories under Price. Again, Wire came up short in the final, with Josh Charnley's early try against his former club rendered irrelevant as Wigan came up trumps. Still, it had been a good first year under Price and he was given a contract extension, taking him until 2021.
With the signings of Blake Austin and Jason Clark, plus the team having had a year to become used to working with Price, there was hope and expectation that Wire would - and should - go one better in 2019. However, a major curveball was thrown on the eve of the campaign when scrum-half Kevin Brown suffered a season-ending injury. This meant that new signing Austin would be partnered by Declan Patton in the halves. While they initially clicked and Wire started the season in excellent fashion, things derailed from June onwards and Wire ended up finishing 4th again - a far cry from the 2nd space they spent much of the season occupying. Still, there was a great day in August as Warrington travelled to London for another Challenge Cup Final - and this time it went the way of the Wolves, with Joe Philbin, Ben Murdoch-Masila and Daryl Clark scoring to defeat the red-hot favourites St Helens, Price lifting his first - and to date, only - piece of silverware as coach. Despite the Cup success, the season ended on a sour note, with Wire bombing out of the playoffs in the first round, losing at home to Castleford Tigers.
Many, including myself, felt that a change of coach was required there and then, but Price was given another chance to impress, with 2020. The signing of Gareth Widdop meant that Warrington now had two marquee half-backs and were expecting a greatly improved campaign. As it happened though, they started the season terribly, losing three of their first five, including a humiliating show at Headingley. Things gradually improved though, and Wire put together a run of wins either side of the long enforced break to the season. When it came down to the big games though, Price was unable to inspire his team to get the big results, with no third Wembley appearance after losing to Salford in the semi-final, and then finishing 3rd - only a marginal improvement on his first two seasons. Once again, Wire were knocked out of the playoffs at the first hurdle, this time by Hull FC, and given the lack of improvement in both results and style of play, it seemed a certainty that Price's position was now untenable.
As it happened, the contract extension that Price signed at the end of 2018 has probably kept him in the job for 2021. For me, it has to be seen as good news that Price will depart the club - he was very lucky to survive 2019 and even luckier to survive 2020. Things have got worse each year under him, with his peak arguably being taking the team to both finals in 2018. I judge coaches on four categories; results, record in the recruitment market, style of play and the way they have conducted themselves.
Results haven't been anywhere near good enough under Price given the budget and squad available to him, so it's a cross for that one. Price's record with transfers isn't great either, with only Matty Ashton, Bryson Goodwin and Josh Charnley that have been undisputed successful signings, with Price struggling to get consistent form even out of the likes of stars such as Blake Austin, Gareth Widdop and Ben Murdoch-Masila. Then there have been complete flops such as Tyrone Roberts and Anthony Gelling, and all-round terrible signings like Lama Tasi, Leilani Latu, Bodene Thompson, Mitch Brown and Ben Pomeroy. The style of play has been largely very dull and unimaginative, which, given the quality of flair players at the coach's disposal, is not acceptable. The one thing you can say in Price's favour is that he has embraced the club and the area in superb fashion and has always conducted himself in a dignified manner. So, it's one tick out of four.
The big question on everyone's lips is where do Wire go from here? With the best part of a year to recruit a new coach, the search should be thorough and there can be no excuses for getting the wrong person.
My ideal choice (of realistic options) would be Daryl Powell. The Yorkshireman has done a splendid job at Castleford over the years and has always looked to play an attractive style of rugby. He has a great record for bringing through youth players, such as our own Daryl Clark and current Tigers' half-back Jake Trueman. Powell has always overachieved with a low budget, most notably taking Cas to the League Leaders' Shield in 2017 and the Grand Final, which they lost to lose.
My dream option would be Justin Holbrook, who led St Helens to two League Leaders' Shields in 2018 and 2019 as well as winning the Grand Final in his final game in charge of the Saints. He has greatly impressed in his first year as coach of the Gold Coast Titans, taking the side that had finished 15th, 14th and 16th in the previous three seasons to 9th in his debut campaign, finishing just two points out of the playoffs. Holbrook also plays an attractive brand of rugby, knows how to succeed in Super League and has an excellent record with recruitment. However, he is likely to be the most in-demand coach in the NRL if his second year with the Titans is another success.
Michael Monaghan, Warrington legend, is well into learning his trade as a coach, having spent time as assistant coach at both Catalans Dragons and Manly Sea Eagles. He is definitely an interesting option and one that I wouldn't be against taking a punt on. I feel similarly about Jason Demetriou, former Wakefield and Widnes centre who is the current assistant coach at South Sydney Rabbitohs. He is very highly-rated by many in the sport and unless Souths are going to make him their next coach, he could be a very attractive option.
Craig Bellamy has also been mentioned, with the legendary coach looking likely to leave reigning NRL champions Melbourne Storm at the end of the year, but I don't see this one happening at all. Yes, Wire have enough money to tempt Bellamy to come over, and the club has a history at paying big money to attract Australians to come over, but the word is that he will look for a director of football role rather than another coaching job.
One of the favourites for the job is Shaun Wane, current England coach and the man who coached Wigan to three Grand Final victories between 2011 and 2018. He has made no secret of his desire to return to club coaching. While Wane would almost guarantee an improvement in results, I'm not sure how I feel about this one. For the football fans among you, this would be an appointment akin to Jose Mourinho. Great chance of trophies and the mentality will improve, but at the cost of a horrendous playing style. Is it worth it?
Ian Watson was someone that Warrington were known to be interested in at the end of 2020, but the former Salford boss is about to embark on his debut season with Huddersfield. Like Powell, he has always got a lot out of very little and could be a shrewd appointment. There is also Brian McDermott, current Toronto coach and former Leeds Rhinos man. Like Wane, he has a record of winning. Again though, I think this could be quite a negative appointment. Lee Radford, the ex-Hull FC boss, has been mentioned, but this would be a big step back in my opinion.
There's the current assistant coaches Lee Briers and Andrew Henderson, who could be options. I'd be more inclined to pick Henderson than Briers, but for what it's worth, I don't think it'll be either. If we're sticking on the path of ex-Warrington players, Brett Hodgson could be someone to look at if his first year with Hull FC goes well, and given the kind of player he was, would surely guarantee an exciting brand of rugby.
Whoever is to be the next Warrington coach, I hope that a decision is made before the end of this season, because they are going to have a huge say in the future of the squad. There are ten Wire players out of contract at the end of the season; Tom Lineham, Blake Austin, Chris Hill, Toby King, Danny Walker, Jake Mamo, Sitaleki Akauola, Matty Ashton, Greg Inglis and Jason Clark. The new coach needs to decide what he wants to do with those players and so needs to be appointed in time to have a say. Wire also have two overseas quota spots available in the squad at the minute, so in my mind these should be left free until a new coach is appointed - there is no point filling them now with players that the new coach may not want.
@ALooseWire
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