Daryl Powell lays into Warrington Wolves players following ‘crazy’ defeat to Salford Red Devils

Warrington Wolves looked like they were coasting along at the Halliwell Jones Stadium this afternoon with ten minutes to go.

Leading 24-8 at one stage and then 24-14 with ten minutes on the clock, the Wolves capitulated as the Salford Red Devils ran in three late tries to win 32-24 and hand Daryl Powell yet another defeat as Warrington head coach.

The Wolves had gone into their fixture at the AJ Bell Stadium in high spirits following a 4-0 win over Hull FC on the same ground last weekend, whilst the Red Devils were flying following a 74-10 thrashing of Wakefield Trinity in the last round.

However, after being put under pressure towards the back end of the game against Salford, Powell’s men couldn’t live with the intensity.

“Mentally, we don’t handle the pressure that that puts on us which is massively disappointing,” Powell told Wire TV.

“You can’t lose that game from that position, it’s just crazy.

“All we needed from that position was everybody to do their jobs effectively, kick the ball well, defend tough and then we’d have been in a good position.”

Powell believes his Warrington side should be doing a lot better than where they currently are.

“They throw a fair bit at you, but we have ourselves to blame for losing that – we’ve got to be stronger mentally and physically to be able to deal with the pressure that we were under there.

“We should be better than what we are.”

With the Magic Weekend approaching this weekend at the home of Newcastle United – St James’ Park – all eyes will be on Warrington as they go head to head with French side Catalans Dragons whom themselves will go into that fixture with great confidence following a superb 20-18 win over St Helens on Saturday evening.

However, whilst Catalans sit in third in the Super League table, Warrington sit in tenth – just six points in front of bottom side Toulouse Olympique.