NOW he knows he will be in charge of the Warrington Wolves first team for the remainder of the year, Gary Chambers has been able to plan with more certainty.
Having had a week without a game to implement his ideas, he now leads The Wire into a critical six-game run that will define how their 2023 season is remembered.
They enter that run in dire form having lost their past seven games and all but two of their remaining regular-season fixtures are away from home, starting with a trip to Leeds Rhinos on Sunday.
When all of that is considered, they face an uphill task if they are to hang onto their spot in the play-offs but Chambers believes he and Richard Marshall have found a way of maximising the squad’s potential.
“Rich and I went to watch North Wales last weekend but we were looking at the results for Salford, Leeds and the like,” he said.
“They all seemed to go in our favour and we sit fifth – we’ve got a few away games coming up but we feel like we’re starting to build and tinker with things now without being too complex.
“We’re going to give it a good go – the players are giving the impression that they want to get into this.
“We want to make people in the town stand up and be proud of what we’re doing.
“We’re not trying to do quick fixes any more as we have a little bit more time to work on the little intricacies.
“We’ve got to play a certain way because of who we are and the people we’ve got on board are going to be better for playing that way.
“I’ve got to get back rowers on the ball more to take a bit of pressure off our middles.
“Once we’re getting these wins and getting through the line with a bit of push, then we can utilise the likes of George Williams to free us up.
“These few days have been good and we’ll be getting ready for Leeds with a clear strategy.
“We’re not looking too much about what they can do or what Hull FC can do after that. It’s about what we can do and how we can do it to the best of our ability.”
In order to assist with that, Chambers has added former Wire centre Martin Gleeson to his coaching staff.
Gleeson has been brought in on a temporary basis until the end of the season and will specifically focus on the team’s attack.
Having built a strong reputation in coaching spheres for his work in rugby union with Wasps and the England national team, Chambers is delighted to have the 43-year-old on board.
“He's a genius of a coach and a thinker of the highest order,” he said of Gleeson, who made more than 100 appearances for Warrington between 2005 and 2009.
“He came in and watched what we were doing and has got loads of different ideas about what we can do.
“He’ll implement the fine detail in terms of the lines we run and the strategy that’s going to take us forward.
“There’s some things we need to do better defensively and Rich is all over that.
“The two key things we’re working on are generating momentum through the field with these big forwards and getting better around the ruck to free us up to make better decisions on the edges. The rest will look after itself.”
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel