Paper Talk: Powell heading to Warrington & England door still open for Connor, Widdop etc

James Gordon

Jake Connor now has 20 assists for the season.

Some big talking points at the start of this week.

Daryl Powell to Warrington

The Warrington Guardian and Manchester Evening News are reporting that Daryl Powell will be unveiled as Warrington’s new coach for the 2022 season. The move, expected to be on a three-year deal, has been a closely guarded secret for a week or so, but an official announcement is expected later today. Powell revealed last month he would be leaving Castleford at the end of the season, barely weeks after Steve Price had stated his intention to return to Australia at the end of 2021 too.

England door still open for in-form players

England coach Shaun Wane says there is still time for players to play their way in to his squad for the mid-season test against the Combined Nations. The likes of Jake Connor, Gareth Widdop and Jake Trueman were missing from his 35-man squad, despite making encouraging starts to the new season. Wane told The Sun: “Jake Connor and Gareth have been good in the opening two rounds. Jake Trueman’s been impressive. But we’re still two games in and it’s very early days yet. I don’t know what people expect but for me to make changes after two games in crazy.”

Tomkins in pole position at full-back

Wane says Sam Tomkins would be full-back if England were playing next week, reports Hull Daily Mail. Full-back will be a fiercely contested berth for the national team, with Zak Hardaker, Stefan Ratchford and Niall Evalds all in the squad; as well as Connor and Widdop staking their claims.

Lam welcomes selection headache

Speaking of full-backs, Adrian Lam says he faces a real headache when Bevan French is available to play, given the form of Hardaker in the number one spot. Lam told the Manchester Evening News: “I think Bevan is one of the best fullbacks in the competition and we’ll make that decision when we come to it. But I know Zak is passionate about playing fullback, I know Zak loves playing fullback, he’s doing a great job for us. He made 240 metres last week which is groundbreaking. He’s here to play. When Bevan’s available that will be a headache but I’m sure we’ll get through it.

Sezer blow for Huddersfield

Huddersfield coach Ian Watson says star half-back Aidan Sezer may be out for a few more weeks, reports League Express. He has sat out their opening two Super League games and Watson said: “Aidan has had a bit of a setback. He trained last Wednesday and got through the majority of the session but then felt a tweak. We decided to get him scanned and it’s come out he’s going to be a couple of weeks.”

New structure for National Conference League

The National Conference League is set to adopt seven regional leagues for the shortened 2021 season. There will be cross-league fixtures taking place, with the exception of the Cumbrian clubs.

Support rugby league in the media and subscribe to League Express, as well as checking out the regular coverage of the sport in The Mirror, The Sun, The Guardian and other national newspapers; the more you read, the more there’ll be.

More RL Adrian Lam