Wakefield Trinity winger Tom Lineham kicked up quite the stir on Monday with his comments on former side Warrington Wolves.
Lineham himself had been at the Wolves for six years.And, in 123 games, the ‘Flying Pig’ scored 82 tries, establishing himself as one of the most consistent wingers in Super League.
However, following the appointment of Daryl Powell as head coach at the Halliwell Jones Stadium, Lineham made the move to Wakefield Trinity – and he doesn’t have much praise for the way Warrington are currently playing.
“When I’m watching Warrington now, Toby King is one of the best under the high ball in the league and they don’t kick to him – Daryl Clark is an unbelievable runner, but it’s like he’s in a cage very restricted,” Lineham said on the Super League Show.
“I can’t understand the identity – they’ve gone away from the Warrington way.
“I was really excited about by Daryl Powell’s announcement – it was ‘Classy Cas’ who were renowned for their expansive play and their shift to the left edge in particular.
“His appointment was to be the key to taking Warrington to the next level and to the Grand Final.
“That’s the only thing they want to do, they’ve had great success in the Challenge Cup, they’ve won the league but they want to win the Grand Final, so they brought Daryl Powell in.
“They seem more like Darth Powell at the minute – they seem to have had the life sucked out of them and I want them to express themselves.”
The Wakefield winger also expressed how difficult it is for Powell coming from an environment such as Castleford to then being under pressure from the get go at Warrington.
“It’s difficult coming from a club like Castleford where expectation is lower but at Warrington you have to win very week.
“There will be crisis meetings there this week – they can’t have back-to-back defeats.
“It’s an ambitious board with ambitious fans, so it will be learning curve for him as a coach.
“He’s got unbelievable players at his disposal, but he’s got to get them firing and get them winning games in a flamboyant fashion.”
But, new Warrington signing Peter Mata’utia has hit back at Lineham’s claims, stating: “No crisis meeting here lad.”
😂😂😂 No crisis meeting here lad. https://t.co/MutztRat5k
— PeanutMatautia (@PeteMatautia) March 16, 2022
