Warrington Wolves
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Warrington Wolves are a professional rugby league team in the town of Warrington, Cheshire in the United Kingdom. In the past the club have been nicknamed "Wire", in reference to the strength of the wire-pulling industry in Warrington.
History
The club was founded in 1879 by Timothy Grix of Chatburn. Their colours are primrose (light yellow) and blue, though white has often featured on the home shirt. They previously played at the traditional ground of Wilderspool, but have since moved to a state-of-the-art venue, known as the Halliwell Jones Stadium. Warrington are currently in the top flight of rugby league, the Super League. To date, they have never won the Super League trophy, though they have won many major trophies in their past. Their best season in Super League has been the 2005 season (Super League X), where they finished in 4th place and earned a home tie in the playoffs. They are one of only a handful of clubs never to have been relegated from the top flight of rugby league, throughout their long history.
Warrington's first season in the Halliwell Jones Stadium saw slight underachievement on the pitch reflected in their finishing position of eighth in Super League, though they did make the semi finals of the Challenge Cup. However they recorded a significant increase in their average attendances and midway through the season the club was purchased by events promoter Simon Moran. Moran immediately released fresh investment into the club, enabling coach Paul Cullen to sign Great Britain centre Martin Gleeson for a club record fee, and New Zealand internationals Henry Fa'afili and Logan Swann.
Australian half-back Andrew Johns played 3 games for the club when his Australian club Newcastle concluded their season. He wore the number 31 (the club was refused permission for Johns to wear 77) and is rumoured to have been paid around £40,000 (Aus$100,000) per match for the Wolves. The signing caused controversy for a couple of reasons. If the Wolves had made the Super League Grand Final, it would have clashed with the Kangaroos Tri-Nations test against New Zealand in Sydney.
Also, many people questioned why the Wolves were allowed to bring in a player in time for the Super League play-offs after he had finished playing a full season in Australia. The signing and subsequent confusion over the rules led other Super League clubs to follow the example set by the Wolves and signed their own Antipodean players on short-term contracts.
Warrington has also recently signed current Great Britain international Adrian Morley on a 4 year deal from the Sydney Roosters NRL club. The deal will commence from the start of Super League XII.
Current squad
As of 29 March, 2006:
| Number |
| Player | Position | Previous Club
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brent Grose | FB | South Sydney Rabbitohs
| |
| 2 | Henry Faafili | W | New Zealand Warriors
| |
| 3 | Martin Gleeson | C | St Helens
| |
| 4 | Toa Kohe-Love | C | Bradford Bulls
| |
| 5 | Stuart Reardon | W | Bradford Bulls
| |
| 6 | Lee Briers | SO | St Helens
| |
| 7 | Michael Sullivan | SH | Cronulla Sharks
| |
| 8 | Chris Leikvoll | P | St George Illawarra Dragons
| |
| 9 | Jon Clarke | H | London Broncos
| |
| 10 | Mark Hilton | P | Warrington Wolves Academy
| |
| 11 | Logan Swann | SR | Bradford Bulls
| |
| 12 | Mike Wainwright | SR | Warrington Wolves Academy
| |
| 13 | Paul Noone | LF | Warrington Wolves Academy
| |
| 14 | Mark Gleeson | H | Warrington Wolves Academy
| |
| 15 | Ben Westwood | SR | Warrington Wolves Academy
| |
| 16 | Paul Wood | P | Warrington Wolves Academy
| |
| 17 | Danny Lima | P | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles
| |
| 18 | Richie Barnett | P | Hull FC
| |
| 19 | Rob Parker | P | Bradford Bulls
| |
| 20 | Paul Rauhihi | P | North Queensland Cowboys
| |
| 21 | Simon Grix | SO | Halifax RLFC
| |
| 22 | Steve Pickersgill | P | Warrington Wolves Academy
| |
| 23 | Andy Bracek | SR | St Helens
| |
| 24 | Chris Riley | W | Warrington Wolves Academy
| |
| 25 | Chris Bridge | W | Bradford Bulls
| |
| 26 | Ben Harrison | P | Barrow Island |
Major honours
- Championship: 1947-48, 1953-54, 1954-55 (3 times)
- Challenge Cup: 1904-05, 1906-07, 1949-50, 1953-54, 1973-74 (5 times)
- Lancashire League: 1937-38, 1947-48, 1948-49, 1950-51, 1953-54, 1954-55, 1955-56, 1967-68 (8 times)
- Lancashire Cup: 1921-22, 1929-30, 1932-33, 1937-38, 1959-60, 1965-66, 1980-81, 1982-83, 1989-90 (9 times)
- Regal Trophy: 1973-74, 1977-78, 1980-81, 1990-91 (4 times)
Some famous players
- Brian Bevan
- Allan Bateman
- Allan Langer
- Andrew Gee
- Harry Bath
- Iestyn Harris
- Paul Sculthorpe
- Lee Briers
External links
| Rugby league in Britain and Ireland | |
|---|---|
|
Competitions Super League | National League | Challenge Cup | National League Cup National Conference League | Rugby League Conference | Scotland Rugby League | |
|
National teams Great Britain | England | Ireland | Scotland | Wales | |
|
Federations RFL | BARLA | Rugby League Ireland | Wales Rugby League | |
|
Former competitions Championship | Premiership | Lancs/Yorks Cups | Lancs/Yorks League Regal Trophy | Charity Shield | BBC2 Floodlit Trophy | |
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