Warrington Wolves players ‘happy’ Daryl Powell got sacked, says Great Britain legend

The Daryl Powell era at Warrington Wolves officially came to an end on Sunday with those higher up at the Halliwell Jones deciding that it was time for the former Castleford Tigers and Leeds Rhinos coach to depart.

That followed what was a toothless performance against bottom of the table Wakefield Trinity, with the margin of victory at 42-6 being so large it saw Trinity almost close the gap on eleventh placed Castleford and it saw the Wolves drop to sixth.

Dropping to sixth might now seem horrific considering it’s still a playoff place but for a side who won their opening eight games, to then put forth a record of three wins in twelve showed something had gone horribly wrong.

Former Great Britain pro and ex Sky Sports pundit Mike ‘Stevo’ Stephenson believes Daryl Powell lost the team and was deliberately outspoken during his post-match press conference as he was ‘wanting a way out’.

“The axe was definitely going to fall and I’m sure that Daryl Powell was fully aware of that,” he told best mate Eddie Hemmings on their ‘Eddie and Stevo Podcast’.

“Publicly to virtually say that they were perhaps not trying enough was enough for the club to say well that’s it. I’m sure that Daryl Powell knew exactly what he was doing. I think he wanted a way out.

“Talking about the way that the club has been run, etc. and so forth, was definitely the last dagger in the back, wasn’t it?”

He also went in on the players who he stated would be ‘happy’ that Powell had gone after he had lost the team, with the fight for the playoffs now a tough ask.

“Well, it’s going to be difficult for them, but it’s an amazing coincidence that when something like you lose the coach, it’s how the players get together themselves and say, look, we’ve lost a coach. Were we the reason for doing that? One never knows.

“I think in this occasion, I think perhaps the players will be quite happy that they’ve lost their coach.

“I reckon he lost the team itself or maybe the team wanted to lose the coach, Darryl Powell.”