Long Read Interview: Gary Chambers

Warrington Wolves interim head coach Gary Chambers sat down with the media for the first time since his appointment on Sunday night, following the sacking of Daryl Powell after six straight defeats. Below is everything he said to the press ahead of Friday’s game against Catalans Dragons at the Halliwell Jones Stadium.

How long will you be in the job?

There’s been no timescale on that. I think it’s just if and when things come right then I’ll move to one side. But there’s no timescale at the moment, no.

Do you want the job full-time?

No, no. I don’t think so. No, look I love coaching, I’m loving this at the moment. You know what I’ve probably not done in a couple of years is the hands-on stuff, but the attention to detail stuff and that sort of thing comes from what I’ve spent my time teaching and that just comes as second nature so that isn’t an issue there. But man I don’t know enough I don’t think to take this job on full-time and you know there’s better people out there than me to lead this club.

What kind of coach are you?

I like getting stuck in, I like mucking in a bit. I like to be on the field, I like to get involved, I like coaching you know, I like looking at videos and that sort of testing your brain a little bit and see where you can you can look for advantages and things like that. So yeah, just getting out there and engaging in and setting the lead by some sort of example of being out there.

How did the players react to Daryl Powell’s sacking?

It was a tough day Monday for everyone. If you think about how it was going and what the lads came into it was more about just getting them through the day. They obviously first and foremost played a game on the Sunday, they were sore, stiff and tired and then you know we had meetings early on and the Daryl came back and spoke to the players and it was just like an emotional roller coaster. So it was a tough day for some people. I mean the first thing I said to them is it’s important that they’re alright because they’re human beings and they all have families and their families will be worried about things as well, so it’s more about looking after the person, get them through that day and then we’ll start looking to move on with them.

Can the players turn it around?

I’m 100 percent certain these blokes will be better this week. They’ll perform better. I’m sure that by losing a coach and everything that goes with that, the pride is going to be hurting. Personal pride will come into this and the are good professionals and they will bounce back.

Will Thomas Mikaele play on Friday, any other injuries?

Yeah, he’s 50-50, 60-40 really against, I think if we were desperate we could have played him. We’ve got to look a bit long term here as well. Connor Wrench is back and he’s got a game under his belt. It’s about making sure Matty gets this break, it’s maximising this break with the Challenge Cup coming up. Connor will come in there and Matty, he needs that two weeks. He’s got a really sore shoulder and he’s got a bit of a foot injury as well. We could roll him out again but there’s no telling how long that damage would be, or how long it would go on for if we did it so it’s not worth it.

Have you spoken to Mikaele since he signed?

I’ve texted him, he said he’s feeling good. But we’ve put him on first class. The other Aussie lads aren’t too happy about that because they’re all moaning about it. But he’s coming back first class so he should be rested. He’s landing in 10 minutes and obviously he’s got to get through customs and that. In a couple of hours I’ll have seen him, know what he’s like, see how he’s feeling, get him settled in and then we’ll make a decision there. If he’s good we’ll give him a go. It all depends on how he rocks in there, I don’t know, it all depends on how he comes in.

Why did you recall Riley Dean from his Castleford loan?

I just want him back to be around the group, get some numbers back. I don’t know how it’s going to be moving forward, so we need some bodies around and all the reserve lads stepping up and putting pressure on. And just to build up that pressure on each other and challenge each other in the camp. I’ve told him if he trains well and he goes well in the reserves and he’ll put himself in a position to play, it’s about getting all the bodies back into camp and putting pressure on each other and challenging each other and then the ones who go the best will get a shot.

Will you give youth a chance, players like Adam Holroyd?

It’s got to be the right game for that. I know I’m about playing these young fellas and exposing them to these opportunities, but we’ve also got to remember that probably at this moment the majority of them are five, 10kg off where they need to be. This is a game where a little bit later, a little bit older. It takes you a little bit.

And, yeah, I will use him. I have no issue using him. But it’s got to be the right games. You know, Adam’s tough, probably tougher than any kid I’ve come across in a long time. And probably sometimes too tough for his own good. I’d have to manage him. If I play him every week, hell for leather and things like that, he’s ultimately going to break because they’re young. And that’s just how it is. So it’s just be selective and do it properly with them.

What are you expecting from Catalans?

Well, man, we go after them like they’re going to come after us. We’re a big team, a big tough team. It’s about, yeah, they’ve been challenged and they’re ready for it. So, you know, we’re not backing out here. We’re going to go toe for toe. There’s not that much technical stuff we can put in there. We’ve got to win that ruck area and we’ve got to execute well, kick well. This is a simple game. It’s not too often you win games on fancy set plays. It’s about effort and if there’s effort there and it’s looking like it is, if there’s effort, then they’ll not go far wrong. It doesn’t matter whether it’s Catalans or anyone else.

Well you’ve got to stop that middle haven’t you? Now there’s a number of ways that we can do that. I’m not going to go into what but what we’ve discussed is we’re big and we’re strong and there’s a lot of blokes back here, and if we wanted to why couldn’t we go toe to toe with them? What would be up with that because we’ve got that strength as well.

What have you done this week with the team?

So if you look what they had, obviously Monday they did a bit of a yoga session, recovery, and then obviously there was a meeting that went on. It probably went longer than it needed to, you know, I wanted to get the moment and chill a little bit. Then yesterday they were off, but we had meetings with individuals. That was more down to me, I want to sort of get my ethos over to our senior team. Then we’ve trained today. It’s not been about what we do from the head down. It’s coaching and getting the message across and the plan across in the head. The more it’s skillful enough to execute, so it’s just about getting some energy, building some energy up for them and then giving them a game plan that’s ultra simplistic, something that they can execute and just try to find and maximize the energy. How difficult is it on a regular basis to basically change mindset as a coach of mind? I know when I play I’d be loving this, you know, if we can spend a bit more time on video and look how we do things on video and, you know, we’re using some methods that I’ve used in school to try and get the message across and things like that. We’ll work on the head and once the body’s ready we’ll catch up with that. They’ve done a bit on the field today. They’ve done a little bit of stuff in our training barn just to see how we get to certain points and certain areas through the field. And then they’ve gone off now for another recovery session.

What have you said to the team regarding your playing style?

Nothing – it’s me asking them how they want them to play. They’re the leaders in this group. You’ve got George Williams and people of that ilk. I’m not telling them how to play. This is their ship, they sail it, so they come up with a game plan. All I have to do then is once they’ve come up with what they want to do, is find the clips and the extracts from games to prove that that would work, and then maybe manipulate some things a little bit. But if they buy into it, if they want to do it, if they believe in it, then they’re going to execute it.

What is the mood among the players at the moment?

I mean they’re hurting, you know, don’t think for a minute that these blokes don’t care, they care massively, they’re strong together, just things aren’t going right at the moment, you know, we’ve tried to address that, probably now is a good time to do it because everything’s raw. And you know, obviously losing the coach and things like that makes it even tougher, but you can then really get into the nitty gritty of things and start building things back up again. I’m nothing with them if I’m not brutally honest and that’s all I can be in a short space of time. I’m just dead straight and being dead honest with them and reporting to them.

I’d say it’s down to the lads to find their way. I think they can maximise themselves. Then we’ll get better answers for that, but time will tell. Hopefully on Friday they can show that, but what I’ve tried to do is turn it over, ask questions and I’ll support them in any way, whatever they need to do on that one.

Is the pressure off a little given current form and the opponents?

Yeah a bit mate, but these are professional guys, you’ve got some big names in here haven’t you, who take great pride in what they do. It’s their trade and how they apply their trade. Yeah, probably the pressure’s off a little bit now in such circumstances, but they’re still desperate to do well and they take a lot of pride in that.

You’re still in the top six, what’s the approach from here?

I think they’re trying to climb up the table. We’ll go one game at a time because that’s maybe all I can do because that’s maybe all I’ve got. I might have two games I don’t know but what we’ve spoken about is where we are now is not where we want to be. They’ve set that out, as leaders, and they’ve delivered to the group and it’s like, no, this is not good enough. We know it’s not good enough and what are we going to do about it?

Why do you think things have gone so wrong lately?

That’s a tough one. The honest answer is I don’t know. I’ve been involved and not involved. Our offices are near each other but I’m not off for every session, I don’t watch everything that’s going on, I’ve got another role to do. So I can’t say what’s going on in meetings, I can’t say there is some sort of conflict, because I haven’t got a clue and I honestly haven’t. I think potentially some injuries may have impacted on that. But if I was thinking back, I think there’s a time when Thomas Mikaele went back and we got some of the knocks and we lost that edge a little bit with that big pack dominance, but there’s players coming back now so I can say that but I can’t put my finger on it.

In this game you’ve got to do all the little things right. All those 1% things have got to be done at the best of their ability. I’ve watched extracts of the game and bits like that and there’s definitely areas that we’ve identified with the players that they can improve on. To get beat by that score at Wakefield, you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to realise that they’re not doing some of the effort areas right. What I’m going to do in this role in this short space of time is identify why they aren’t doing it right and come up with something that prompts them to do it properly.

How does it feel on a personal note to be in this position?

There is never a dull moment in my life. At times, you know, a few people have asked me, I have just got to kick myself, I pinch myself at times to think what the hell’s going on here? Yeah, it’s weird, absolutely weird. I’m 53 now, in another 20 years, if I get that long, I’ll sit back and I think I haven’t done bad there, that’ll do me.