“Leave the building immediately” Daryl Powell press conference curtailed by fire alarm
Photo: James Heaton/News Images
Daryl Powell’s post-match press conference following Warrington’s heavy home defeat to Leeds was curtailed by an unexpected fire alarm.
Powell was well in to addressing his team’s poor performance at the Halliwell Jones Stadium, where they shipped eight tries in a 40-4 loss.
The stadium fire alarm sounded, forcing the media room and the rest of the ground to be evacuated.
There were no signs of fire – but there had earlier been some sparks in the crowd after the hooter.
One irate fan was berating the players from above and was soon challenged by other home fans, which prompted him to go to the front of the stand.
That saw Wolves players Ben Currie and Mike Cooper both stepping over the advertising hoardings.
Currie could be heard asking Wolves director Mike Lomax to remove the fan.
Although Powell knew little of the incident when asked, he said he understood fan frustrations.
“I don’t really know the full situation there but you never want to see that, do you.
“I understand everybody getting frustrated because people pay their money and they want to see a winning team.
“They have the right to vent their frustration but I don’t think they have a right to get physical with anybody, players’ families or what. I don’t know whether that happened but if it did then it shouldn’t.
“We can’t have that, it’s just not on. Players are putting their bodies on the line and they don’t get everything right. It’s a tough sport out there.
“We all want our fans to be happy and enjoy what they’re seeing.”
Despite a bright start that saw two promising chances wasted, Warrington were second best against Leeds.
There were plenty of boos in the final stages, and especially when the players left the field.
And not for the first time this season, Powell was forced to react to fan apathy post-match.
He said: “It’s pretty disappointing that we can’t string two high-quality performances together.
“We’re going to have to do that to make any kind of leap up the competition ladder.
“We made an outstanding start to the game but, when we get rattled, we just don’t handle it well at all.
“We tried our best to turn around at half-time and refocus on what we had to do but it clearly didn’t happen.
“We had 11 sets and completed four of them and you cannot get back into a game with those kind of stats. We have to be more resilient in games.
“We’re in a tough spot. We’re looking to try to create a dynasty at the club. That might seem a bit distant at moment but it’s a situation we’re capable of getting out of.
“It’s a tough season but it’s not a crisis. We want to win the competition and we want to win it multiple times. For us it’s a journey and the players are working hard to make that happen.
“Tonight can’t derail us. I still think we can get in the play-offs and it starts next week at Wakefield.”