Captain Hook wrote:
But what can the club say? “we were rubbish most of last season and if you think we will be much better next season you are deluded” or “ none of this shower have put any effort in at pre season” or just not say anything at all? They have to sell season tickets, create a sense of expectation and that is what this type of comment is designed for.
Even in our darkest days at the start of the season there was always a glimmer of optimism no matter how irrational.
The truth is that if there wasn’t that feeling I’m not sure that I would be bothered supporting a team. Next season the optimism will, of course, be based on Widdop. He will be replacing Dec Patton as first choice halfback. That is such a huge step up in class that it has to make a difference as will the freeing up of Austin to play off the cuff.
Now there may well come a point next season when that optimism is shown to be ill founded but in the meantime let the dreamers dream!
I think it comes across much better if you treat fans as being intelligent and are realistic about the situation. You can still be positive.
Eg the CEO could give an interview to the Warrington Guardian that went something like:
"We would have liked to bring in some more firepower up front. Unfortunately the players we were targeting there didn't come off, and this can happen, so we'll go with what we have got. Last year felt like a disappointment to everyone despite winning the Challenge Cup, but the wins in big cup games showed the potential that this group of players has.
"Gareth Widdop should bring a whole new dimension to the way we attack and we're spending this off season working hard to make ourselves less predictable and find extra ways to break defences. Last year, I think teams were able to shut us down too easily and if they were able to keep Blake under wraps we didn't have enough answers. We need to find more ways to challenge teams this time around.
"The goal for the season will be to maximise the potential of the players we have on the squad and be a team that the supporters can identify with. That involves playing a positive style of rugby and making the supporters feel that the players have put everything in to the game, whether we have won or lost.
"We might not start the season as favourites but we have enough talent in the squad to be one of the group of teams who is capable of being in the last 4 of both major competitions. We showed last year that we could win big knock out games, and that means we can win one or both of the major competitions this year. I'm really looking forward to seeing what we can do".
