WHEN a player leaves a club, you often expect them to be directly replaced by someone new.
In the case of Oliver Holmes’ departure, though, it looks like that may not be the case for a couple of reasons.
Firstly, the salary cap space the back rower’s move to Leigh Leopards – writing that is going to take some getting used to – is more needed in other areas.
Warrington Wolves have made their recruitment priorities clear for 2023 – they feel the pack is in place and now, attention has turned to recruiting a centre and a half-back.
Two key players to find, one overseas quota spot to use and now there is increased wriggle room in terms of falling within the financial constraints.
Daryl Powell and the club remain hard at work with this as links continue to be drawn to West Tigers’ England international centre Oliver Gildart and Catalans Dragons pivot Josh Drinkwater, but it is thought no announcements are immediately imminent.
So that brings us to the question of the second row and why Powell appears to be happy to allow Holmes to leave just one season into a three-year deal without bringing in a direct replacement.
It is clear he and the club have a lot of faith in Matty Nicholson – the mid-season signing Wigan Warriors were so keen to keep at their club – to step up and be “the man” over on the right edge.
While it may have been innocently timed for just after Holmes' departure was announced, this Tweet from Thursday evening appears to hint at the above being the case.
A ⭐️ in the making
— Warrington Wolves (@WarringtonRLFC) October 20, 2022
🔗 https://t.co/nE4J3kSpDw pic.twitter.com/S2wpMUOhiq
He certainly showed glimpses of his prodigious talent in the seven games he managed this year, not least his impressive, try-scoring debut against Catalans at Magic Weekend.
There’s also academy graduate Adam Holroyd, who is extremely highly thought-of by Powell.
He too took the step-up to the first-team in his stride towards the end of the year and after a full pre-season among the senior environment, he could be set to feature heavily.
New signing Josh McGuire will surely play more in the loose forward role – another position Holmes found himself occupying – but has played on the edge plenty of times in his storied career.
There is also the possibility of James Harrison being utilised in the back row as he was on a couple of occasions during 2022.
He certainly has the tools – the power that comes from a career carved out in the front row, a strong defensive game and he’s also a fair passer of the ball.
So while they are technically now a player down in the second row, it appears Powell’s options remain solid enough for him to remain focused on other areas of the field.
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