Am hoping this week in the build up to the game WP spends time stressing to the troops the importance of the challenge cup!
Lets be brutally honest...we've been terrible in it for such a long time with just the odd flirting of getting to the back end of it...got a really poor record when drawn against Super League clubs.
I think he will though...he's been massively impressive so far in everything he's done! He's hit a couple of snags like the defeat to Leigh last season and the friendly loss at Fev this season but on the whole has had a brilliant start to coaching at the top. He's got a side playing out of their skins for each other....we're looking supremely fit which for me is by far the biggest difference from previous seasons...I loved what he did with the current players getting in touch with past players to find out history of the club and what it meant to past players...a brilliant initiative...he's a very smart bloke....
The way he took us to Saints with a gameplan to go there and have a go and believing we could win and not the old just try and spoil and keep the score down...he's not been afraid to throw the youngsters in with the likes of Hall nailing down a regular starting spot....Bowes, Aydin, Murphy, Shaw all tasting first team already this season and chomping at the bit for more games....I love the way he dropped Kelepi early on in the season...sends a huge message that no matter who you are, what standing in the group you have as a player....if you're not performing you'll be out....that straight away creates a culture of players having to play to their best or they'll lose their spot to players playing well in the reserves....competition for places has never been more fierce and as they've already shown if called upon they'll not let us down!
We'll go to Warrington on Sunday absolutely full of confidence and will probably go with the same gameplan of four forwards on the bench against what looks a weak Wire pack...they may have a few back...the Aussie signing for one but that wouldn't concern me really...he wont be 100% fit and fully up to speed and I can't ever remember any Aussie signing come straight in and be a brilliant player straight away...they usually need time to adjust and get used to the game, their new surroundings, new team mates etc...
I can't see them being as bad again as last week so we will need to raise our game too for that...they'll be fired up as it's knockout stuff and over the years they've tasted plenty of success in the challenge cup so no matter how poor they've looked this season I'm expecting a totally different proposition.....the important thing for us is starting well and not letting them get off to a fast and dominant start and getting the crowd up on their side...we need to dig in and scrap and fight for everything early to stay in the game. If we can do that the crowd will get restless, the pressure will go up on the players and we'll benefit from that. Too many times we've got off to bad starts and been chasing games and that doesn't see us at our best....as long as we can keep with them and not fall a few scores behind I'd be extremely confident our fitness this season will see us home 2nd half...vital we stay with them early though...
Hopefully wins at Wire are like buses....none for years and years and then two together!!