THERE is one thing which stands out for me about the Warrington Wolves squad for 1998 - team spirit!

The lads, despite 11 newcomers and even more departures, are mixing well in and out of training.

This was not always the case in 1997 but coach Darryl Van de Velde appears to have got the blend right after working with a squad built by John Dorahy and Alex Murphy for most of last term.

This squad of players look as though they will all work hard for each other and encourage each other, traits which can hopefully be a platform to success for coach Darryl Van de Velde.

The players enjoyed a recent trip to Manchester's Nynex Arena to watch Manchester Storm ice hockey team take on Cardiff Devils. It can get a bit rough on the ice and it's a good job the Storm and the Devils did not kick-off because I can think of one or two Wolves players who would have only been too glad to roll their sleeves up and get stuck in.

This squad of Van de Velde's must be one of the 'hardest' Wilderspool has had for years. It brings back memories of the Les Boyd, Kevin Tamati and Alan Rathbone era. One of Van de Velde's most difficult tasks might prove to be keeping his players on the field - not through injury but through yellow and red cards! But, mark my words, if this squad can channel its aggression into the right areas of the game they will pull off one or two surprises this year.

The bets are on! Which player is the Wolves' Fatty champion? For Monday is the great Fatty Arbuckles challenge to find out who can wolf down a 20oz steak and a tower of ice cream?

It seems the bookies won't take any more readies off punters wanting to back Lee Penny, the firm favourite, while you can get evens on Lee Briers and Steve McCurrie. The Wolves, not wanting to take advantage of a perk of the job, will be sending 25 players and five coaches to the Riverside Retail Park restaraunt to sample the fayre.

Adam Fogerty's in for some ribbing. He's a brave man to go and watch his latest movie release, Up 'N' Under, with the rest of the Wolves squad at UCI. It's on the agenda soon. You can imagine the patter from his teammates about his acting abilities. Any trouble Foggy - just show them your wage packet!

I knew Brendon Tuuta could be a bit of a hair-raiser on the pitch but I got the shock of my life when I bumped into him. It was the 'Baby-faced Assassin' all right but what has happened to his hair? It's a sort of wild gingerish affair - something like you would have expected Rod Stewart to be wearing in the 1970s. Maybe, after his arrival from New Zealand, he had to come through some kind of Wilderspool initiation ceremony that involved a pair of Ocker's garden shears. But hey, Tuuts, if you say it's a good hair cut then that'll do for me.

New Balance have pulled off a coup. Over the years, Warrington's new kit suppliers have had a special relationship with soccer stars Bryan Robson and Gareth Southgate, both having endorsed the New Balance running shoes and boots. But now the Warrington-based company have broke the bank for their greatest signing of all - the one and only Wolfie. Warrington's furry friend will be donning his size 24 specials around the top RL grounds all over the country this year and you can't get a bigger endorsement than that! By the way, the New Balance replica shirts will be in the shops from March 1.

Darryl Van de Velde's not happy about the odds his team have been offered to win the Super League title. They may have dropped recently but on finding out the bookies were offering 100-1 he was heard to say he felt 'insulted'. They are apparently the worst odds one of his teams has ever had and he asked a friend: "Can you lend me a fiver, it's well worth a go?"

Converted for the new archive on 13 March 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.