Warrington Wolves head coach Daryl Powell on Leeds Rhinos test

Four defeats from five in all competitions, their star half-back facing an injury lay-off and grumbles of discontent building among the fan base, their 2023 season has hit somewhat of a crossroads.

As they prepare to welcome Leeds Rhinos to The Halliwell Jones Stadium tonight, Daryl Powell insists the bond within the dressing room remains strong and his players are committed to navigating themselves back into calmer waters.

With 11 games of the regular season remaining, The Wire are second in the Super League table and trail leaders Catalans Dragons by two points, meaning a repeat of their Round One home win over the Rhinos will see them move level on points with the leaders, who travel to Hull FC on Saturday.

However, Powell’s focus is merely on getting his side back to what they had been doing well earlier in the year.

“It’s been a disappointing period but ultimately, we can’t do anything about that now,” he said.

“It’s what we do from now on and the mood has been great.

“The boys have bounced around in practice and they know what they have to do. We’re in a pretty strong position but we’ve got to kick on now.

Focused 👌 pic.twitter.com/6r5hfhJJsG

— Warrington Wolves (@WarringtonRLFC) June 28, 2023

“We’ll give everything we’ve got – the boys are committed to what we’re trying to achieve this year and we’re ready to go.

“From what I’ve seen at least, there’s a real focus within the group.

“Team sport is about pulling each other through tough periods and being committed to what you’re trying to achieve.

“Everything I’m seeing from the group is positive in that regard. The focus for us is getting back to the energy we want to play with.

“Good things happen around effort – that’s one of (assistant coach) Rich Marshall’s favourite sayings and that’s what we need to do.

“We’ve shown great signs all the way through the year but we need to be more consistent with it.”

Given their recent struggles have largely occurred on the road, Warrington will perhaps be grateful for a return to home comforts for the first of back-to-back fixtures at The Halliwell Jones Stadium, with St Helens visiting next Friday.

And Powell says the home crowd have a big part to play as they strive for an eighth victory in nine games in their own back yard.

Wire have won seven of their eight home games this year, the last being a 30-26 victory over Huddersfield earlier this month (Image: Mike Boden)

“This is an important game for us at home and I’d like to see the fans create a bit of a buzz around the place and give us their support to feed off.

“Rugby league is a tough sport and the boys are 100 per cent committed, but we need our fans at the moment.

“We’ve had some unbelievable atmospheres at the Halliwell Jones this year and I think this needs to be another one of them. They’ll give us energy and we’ll give them energy.”

Among the memorable occasions Powell references was the last meeting with Leeds, which saw The Wire race into a 30-0 lead before half time before completing a 42-10 season-opening victory back in February.

Since then, Rohan Smith’s side have had their struggles with consistency and sit four points outside the play-offs but had a stunning return to form last week as they thrashed Huddersfield Giants 54-0 at Headingley.

While wary of what is coming their way from the visitors, however, Powell is more focused on his side counter-acting it with an “outstanding performance” of their own.

Leeds arrive having thrashed Huddersfield 54-0 last week to end a run of four consecutive defeats (Image: SWPix.com)

“Like all teams, they’ve had a bit of a dip. Nobody is going to sail through the whole year,” he said.

“They’ve had some games and halves of football where they’ve been unbelievable – they tore Wigan to shreds in a half a few weeks back while being a man down.

“The way they play is a little bit unorthodox – they do some different things.

“What they did last week was tear a team apart, so we have to look at that and make sure you know exactly what they’re going to do.

“In saying that, we have to play well ourselves. In every aspect of the game, we’re looking for an outstanding performance.

“We can’t control what they’re going to throw at us. We’ve got to try and play our best rugby league and no doubt they’ll be looking to do the same.”