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Warrington Wolves to change academy model as they head to Australia

Warrington Wolves’ Head of Youth Gary Chambers and Assistant Coach Richard Marshall have spoken recently about changing the club’s approach to the academy.

They confirmed on the Eddie and Stevo podcast that they are set to tour Australia.

Marshall said: “We’ll probably run it once every two years so we get different grades going but it’s a life experience too, playing in a different country against probably the best players in the world at their age.

“There’s a lot of work to be done and we’ve got some fundraising to do but we’re really excited, as are the players.

“We’re going to be taking around 30 juniors players aged 17 and 18, that will be a challenge in itself, but yeah it will be a brilliant all-encompassing tour.”

Chambers spoke about the calibre of young man they’ve got: “We’re not going to give them loads of rules, we want good people with pleases and thank-yous but it’s up to them to police themselves. We’ll rely on them and their professionalism.”

Marshall meanwhile spoke about getting them ready for Super League: “There’s parents going as well, it’s a real family tour and there are a lot of parents on there. One of the players Mums, Noah’s Mum, is a travel agent so she’s organising and has put loads of packages in place.

“Ultimately it’s about improving our squad and our players and get them ready for the rigours of Super League. It won’t be a holiday, it will be three weeks and part of the pre-season.”

Chambers meanwhile spoke about the new model: “There’s real quality at 17 and 18 and we’re trying to come up with a new model that’s putting a really focused reserve team together, so there’s not a massive transition from 18s to academy to first-team. It’s too big of a jump, you do get elite players who can but not many can make that jump.”

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