Daryl Powell pulls no punches after laying into his "shocking" Warrington Wolves side
Powell was furious with his side after a 42-6 defeat to Wakefield Trinity.
Daryl Powell delivered an emphatic spray towards his Warrington Wolves side after a humiliating display in defeat to Wakefield Trinity. The under fire Wolves boss labelled his side 'appalling', 'shocking' and accused players of not putting enough effort in after suffering a sixth straight defeat.
The Wire are now on their worst run for over 20 years after their latest setback, which leaves them clinging on to a top-six spot. Powell was in no mood to defend his players, questioning their mentality after a terrible performance.
"It was a really poor performance on every level," he said. "We started alright but as soon as we had to defend we were appalling. The start of the second half we showed signs of getting back into it, but we kicked poorly and every time Wakefield had an opportunity we looked vulnerable. That was a really poor performance, I won't make any excuses for anything in that.
"I thought they worked harder than us today and there's no excuse for that. If you go on to a rugby league field you've got to put everything into it, they did that to a man and that's not coming from us at the moment and that's an individual attitude thing. I've not been able to leave anyone out of the pack for a few weeks, there's a couple in there I'd have been leaving out for a few weeks now.
I've no excuse for that, I thought it was shocking. I'm really disappointed with what I've seen. The players got a week off, we trained really well, but that performance, it's nowhere near the standard."
Powell become more animated as his 15-minute address with the media went on, questioning the character and attitude of his players.
"The resilience in the team is pretty poor at the moment, we had two sets on their line, they keep us out, then as soon as we defend our own line we folded pretty easily, we did that all the way through the game. I spoke about resilience earlier in the week with the team as I think that's one of our main issues. As soon as we get smacked on the nose we're leaking a lot of blood, we've got to be better than that.
If you're talking about effort some have to look at themselves pretty long and hard. There are some things that need to change within the team. We've lost six games straight now which is ridiculous. I think we should have beaten St Helens but other than that we deserved to get beat and we did today. We've gone from being an excellent team to one that doesn't look like a team. We've got to have some ownership from the individual players to put this together.
"I was asked when I came into the club to do two things, create accountability and get rid of the sense of entitlement and I think that had a large bearing, trying to do those things, on last season. It's tough, this is the job I always wanted but I felt there were some strong things that needed to be fleshed out within the club and the squad. Up to this point, clearly, that hasn't been sorted. So it's a tough period. As a player, I was a winner and I've always been a winner as a coach. So things like this hurt pretty deeply and it's tough to take.
"I do think difficult things have happened to us this year, but you can't keep rattling on about halfbacks not playing together consistently and pack depth, I do think that has hurt us. But you can't keep going on about that when your team isn't putting in the effort it needs to."
Asked if he felt there was still an element of entitlement within the group, Powell accused some individuals of being unable to take criticism on board.
"What I do think is that we're not capable enough of taking a smack on the chin when someone tells you that's not good enough. I don't think that's accepted well enough by certain people in the team. Some people are pretty good, they're honest dudes and critique themselves. Others need to be better. When you go out there you're judged, pretty heavily, by a lot of people who watch you and by me as a coach and that's part of the job. You sort it out and then that s*** doesn't keep happening.
Cop it, get better, sort yourself out, do your job that you're paid to do, crack on. The fruits are out there, you see it. We have to be better, crack on, you sort yourself out, you sort yourself out, play well, that's what we all do, work on your game and then we all end up in a better position."
Powell admitted his side would not make the top six if performances did not improve. "We've lost away to Wakefield and Castleford. I thought Wakefield were really good today but that's inexcusable.
"If we're wanting to win a competition you've got to win these games. It's always been tough to come here, always, but that doesn't matter because it doesn't mean you can't do it. But we get a smack on the nose and we're in trouble. It's b*******, as a rugby league team if you get a smack on the nose and can't hold yourself together and crack on, it's a tough sport, get on with it. That's life."
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