sportingFACTIONS :: Code XIII

S4C launched their coverage of the Celtic Crusaders in great style on Saturday.

The show was fronted by the captivating Sarra Elgan and unlike Eddie Hemmings or Claire Balding I could listen to Sarra talk for a very long time; even if most of it was in Welsh.

The presentation of the game was very well done. including inserted interviews with spectators.

And of course the game delivered on the pitch with the result in doubt right until the end.

I look forward to seeing their next broadcast, which will be Crusaders clash with Workington.

Two St Helens born and bred RL players epitomised the fine line between champions and also-rans on Saturday.

The two incidents occurred within a couple of minutes of each other during Saints come-from-behind Challenge Cup quarter final win.

A decade ago Lee Briers was an up and coming half back with his home town club, playing in the deep shadow of Bobbie Goulding. When Goulding was suspended he stepped into the limelight, played six games scored 52 points and helped his team reach Wembley.

But he never set foot on the Wembley turf in Saints colours. Goulding waltzed back into the team and inspired a Saints win. Briers seeing the writing on the wall opted to move-on and eventually joined the Wolves.

Also watching from the Wembley stands with his school mates was a certain Paul Wellens.

Ten years on the pair were locked in tense combat as Saints fought for their Challenge Cup lives.

With his team leading 14-12 and pressing on the Saints line Briers was unable to reel-in a tired pass in front of the Saints’ posts. The scrum relieved a 5-minute Wolves siege.

Two plays later Wellens was linking with the attack in midfield and heading into the oblivion of a two-man bear-hug tackle. But he didn’t go easy.

Determination is the this that ultimately defines the champion. A fierce self belief and a determination not to go down cheaply.

Wellens fought off Paul Rauhihi’s grapple and spun out of the grasp of Andy Bracek, just enough to slip the ball free to the supporting Keiron Cunningham.

KC’s inside ball sent Jon Wilkin hurtling through the line, with Sean Long and Lee Gilmour linking to finish the move with a try and (Wellens) goal, That score took all the steam out of the Warrington effort and effectively killed the game at 18-14 on the hour.

Briers is a good player. Wellens is a great player. It’s hard to articulate the difference … but you know it when you see it.

Salford have a press conference set for today at which they will make an announcement on their coaching situation.

It’s widely expected that former Saints and Hull FC coach, Shaun McRae, will be named as Karl Harrison’s replacement.

And maybe he wil be.

My thoughts? It’s a big mistake for both parties.

McRae’s a good bloke who did a great job coaching talented Saints outfit and an adequate job coaching a less  talented Hull team. His record trying to kick-start a weak Rabbitohs side in the NRL was less impressive and closer to the job he’ll be called on to do at Salford.

For mine, McRae should have joined Paul Cullen at the Wolves. Working alongside Cullen he could have helped coax the best out of a talented but under-achieving Warrington side. As a bonus he would have imparted valuable experience to an aspiring ‘young’ British coach.

It’s a far easier job to make Warrington a top four contender than to keep the Reds out of National League One. And if they do slip down what price McRae then?

As it is it seems the Wolves sticky situation may turn out to be a way back from ‘the Dark Side‘ for League’s prodigal son … Ellery Hanley.

Whether Hanley can be tempted back, and how he would fit into the structure working with Cullen – or replacing him – remains to be seen.

It’s clear that the Wolves have talent and that Cullen is almost a good coach: both need a touch of experience and a good shove in the right direction to get them over the hump.

McRae could do it. So too Hanley, who may see it as a stepping stone to greater things when Tony Smith’s reign as GB coach peters out.

Oh and a good short stint saving the Wolves wouldn’t do him any harm chasing the Leeds Rhinos role either.

Paul Cullen’s appointment as Head Coach of the Warrington Wolves was greeted with fervour by fans starved of success for over a decade.

Here was the saviour returning. Having proven his pedigree in Whitehaven Cullen was poised to take the next step elevating the Wolves into the top tier of Super League.

No matter how you slice-and-dice it though he’s yet to take that step.

Are the Wolves better? Yes. Can they compete with the big four? On their day, yes.

And therein lies the problem. Those days are few and far between. Mostly they have ‘half days’ … games when they are competitive for a period then fall apart.

That inconsistency is endemic. It’s the spanner in the works and Cullen does not appear to know how to fix it. Blaming injuries and ill luck, whilst ostensibly valid for a short time, does nothing to explain away Warrington’s consistent under achieving.

Their current loss of form sees them tied with Hull KR as joint second bottom in Super League, just three point ahead of a Salford team that for 14 rounds was inexplicably inept but has suddenly found both spirit and form having parted company with their coach, Karl Harrison.

How long before the Wolves follow that path? I think that Cullen needs to win at least one of the next two games to fend off the axe.

The first game is Saturday lunchtime’s Carnegie Cup quarterfinal at St Helens, where victory and a semi final place would be a springboard to renewed confidence as well as potential trophy success.

The second game is a crucial Super League match-up against fellow strugglers the Wakefield Trinity Wildcats. Defeat could open a five point ‘chasm’ between the Wolves and the ‘middle of the pack’ teams, leaving them tethered to second bottom place and potentially just a point above Salford. But victory would pull them back into the pack earning at least a temporary reprieve for Cullen.

Defeat in both of those games would see the Wolves condemned to a relegation dogfight that they cannot afford to lose. And if that happens I would expect Cullen to be replaced as Head Coach.

So, who would the Wolves turn to?

Well John Monie could be an intriguing short term appointment. He’s on record saying he doesn’t want to get into it full time again but as ‘Football Manager’ he could maybe tempted back for the final 10 rounds of Super League to save the Wolves skins.

Shaun McRae might be another choice if he’s not been wrapped-up by the Reds by then. And he does seem to be reluctant to commit to a Reds team that will find it very hard to dodge the National League bullet. Maybe it’s significant that he seems to be holding off committing to Salford until after the Wolves face the Saints.

NZ Coach, Brian McClellan has also indicated his desire to coach in Super League; although Leeds and possibly Saints would be in the mix for his services too.

One thing is clear. There are few if any UK based candidates for the role. This just a few short months after both Cullen and Harrison were heavily touted for the GB coaching role. Fickle fate has handed each a very bitter lesson.

Maybe a short-term appointment with McRae or Monie working alongside Cullen would be the best solution: helping a young ambitious British coach to learn and develop, whilst adding a valuable depth of experience to Warrington’s bid to stave off relegation.