With the Warrington Wolves players returning to pre-season training, Chairman Stuart Middleton has welcomed the new regime under new Head Coach Daryl Powell.

With the cold, dark, winter nights having arrived, and the return of Super League still months away, it’s easy to feel slightly dispirited at this time of year as we miss our weekly fix of seeing the Wire in action. But while the on-field entertainment will have to wait until February, there’s still been plenty going on behind the scenes to get excited about.

This month we officially welcomed our new head coach Daryl Powell to the club who has now made the permanent trip across the Pennines. Daryl has made an exceptional first impression and him and his coaching staff have been a breath of fresh air around the place. The foundations are now being laid in pre-season for what promises to be an exciting year ahead.

Daryl was the outstanding candidate during our recruitment process and I’m delighted we’ve managed to get him over to the club. His passion and love of the sport is second to none, with a distinct philosophy of how the game should be played. It’s safe to say the brand of rugby he wants to play mirrors the values and ethos we strive for as a club and, as a fan first and foremost, I can’t wait for that first game and the season ahead.

We have a lot of exciting young prospects at the club also and he has a proven track record in the past of developing and promoting youth players. Josh Thewlis, Connor Wrench and Ellis Longstaff in particular are players I’m predicting to have a big impact in 2022.

I was extremely disappointed to have finished the 2021 season in the manner that we did. It was unacceptable and frustrating to say the least. It proved that the decision to make wholesale changes to our coaching set up and playing squad was the right one and indeed, necessary.

I have no doubt that under Daryl now, we will see a very exciting and entertaining brand of rugby that we have previously been used to at Warrington.

I’m really satisfied with our recruitment also, and feel we have made some smart acquisitions in a number of key areas next season in what is an increasingly difficult transfer market to deal in.

Next year will also be George Williams’ first full season in primrose and blue. We saw some glimpses of his talents towards the end of last season and with a full pre-season under his belt I think we’ll see the best of him next year – especially linking up with a player like Gareth Widdop.

I’m excited and optimistic that we will be very competitive and have the opportunity to win silverware in 2022.