Briers praises Powell ahead of vital league clash

Warrington stand-off, Lee Briers has heaped praise on Castleford boss, Daryl Powell for his work in the past three months.

Briers believes Powell has revitalised the Tigers who were low in confidence and had fallen into a rut in the latter stages of Ian Millward’s tenure.

Castleford may well be out of a race for the play-offs but Briers knows that they’re playing for pride and that they could be a major stumbling block when they face off on Sunday.

“Daryl Powell is a bloke I respect enormously,” he told Love Rugby League.

“He probably went in a little bit early at Leeds with his coaching but he went away and did an apprenticeship with Featherstone.

“He probably made Featherstone the super club of outside the Super League if you like.

“I’m super impressed with the way he got Featherstone playing again – he got a great team there.

“Now he’s took the job at Cas he’s rejuvenated them. Even though they’ve not won every game, they’ve been in every game and we need to be wary of that.” 

The Wolves will be looking to get back to winning ways having lost to Hull in the semi-final of the Challenge Cup on Sunday evening.

Briers acknowledged that the past few days have proved difficult but that he and his teammates have to put their dissapointment behind them to put pressure on Huddersfield and Wigan at the top of the table.

“It’s been a tough weekend for obvious reasons,” he added.

“Sunday and Monday weren’t the nicest days in the Briers household as they wouldn’t have been in any household in Warrington I’d suggest.

“You’ve got to get over it and move on – we’ve got a tricky game this week against Castleford.

“They’re an improving side and we need to re-focus ourselves on playing well – probably not worry about who we are playing this week.

“We need to focus and put performances in which will hopefully take us up the league.”