Exclusive: Danny Walker on Warrington Wolves’ struggles under Daryl Powell

Warrington Wolves were almost certainly the biggest underachievers of the 2022 season.

Having arrived from the Castleford Tigers in a hail of glory, Daryl Powell had his work cut out in one of the most disappointing years of his coaching career.

Instead of fighting for a top four spot and silverware, Warrington scraped through the relegation battle at the bottom of the Super League table.

For Warrington starlet, Danny Walker, there are two major reasons for that.

“I would probably say a lot of the lads have been there a long time, some of them have been there eight, nine or ten years,” Walker told Serious About Rugby League.

“The way that Powelly (Daryl Powell) wants us to play is completely different to what most of the lads have ever been used to. It’s been pretty tough adjusting to that.

“There have been a few clashes and a lot of changing around so it has been pretty difficult for the playing group as you don’t know who is coming or going at times.

“It’s been a lot of adjusting of how we want to play and I don’t think any way is right or wrong as both ways of what we have been used to and Powelly’s view have benefits to them – it’s about finding the right balance.”

Walker also believes that the Wolves have not been good enough to earn the luck which would have seen them progress up the table.

“I think it’s been one of those years where the bounce of the ball hasn’t gone our way at times.

“In close games at times we can look back and say we should have won those games with the bounce of the ball not going our way or the fact that we’ve fallen off a cliff.

“It’s something that we definitely need to change. We’ve not earned our luck – there has been a few games where we’ve fallen off massively.”

For Walker, Powell and Warrington, it’s a case of attempting to right the wrongs of 2022 in 2023.