Steve Price says Warrington deserved every bit of criticism for their opening defeat to Castleford – but that he won’t be panicked into picking star signing Greg Inglis as a knee-jerk reaction.
The Wolves were slammed by supporters in the wake of their 21-12 defeat to the Tigers having lost four of their last six matches in 2020. Price insists that him and his squad have to take that on the chin ahead of Friday’s crunch clash with promoted Leigh.
But it hasn’t tempted him to rush Inglis into action for the first time since announcing his retirement from rugby league in April 2019. Price said: “The scrutiny is part and parcel of our game. As a coaching group and playing group we deserved what we got and we’ve got to live with that.
(Image: Gareth Copley)
“We can’t hide from that, and we’ve got high expectations of what we’ve set ourselves and what we want to become. Now it’s the perfect opportunity to put a really good foot forward on Friday night. It’s a short week which is a positive for us after our performance last week.”
Much of the pre-season focus across the whole competition centred on Aussie star Inglis, who won everything the sport has to offer Down Under. But his fitness levels are not yet up to the required levels, and Price maintains he won’t bring him in ahead of schedule whatever the results on the field.
Price said: “Greg won’t line up this weekend. He’s doing really well, he’s itching to get out there and the players are excited for him to don our jersey very soon.
(Image: Warrington Wolves RF club)
“It was always a process and he’s doing everything he can. Two years out of the game is quite some time and it’s important that we build some resilience in Greg and put some miles in his legs.
“Once he puts on our colours we want him to maintain on the field too, we don’t want to keep spitting him out. As a coach, I’ve got an obligation to make sure that he’s in the best possible condition when he does play. I’m not going to put a player out there and jeopardise anything down the track.
“He’s been a legend of our game and he’s here to add value to our club. He has to date and when we feel he’s right and he’s fit and he’s got enough miles under his bonnet, we’ll put him in and he’ll be ready to go.”
