Fantastic five years for Wolves boss Smith

IT is five years to the day since Tony Smith joined Warrington Wolves as head of coaching and rugby on March 5 2009.
One of his opening games in charge was away to this weekend’s opponents London Broncos – then Harlequins RL – but the team will be hoping for a different outcome this time around having suffered a 60-8 defeat back in 2009.
The club has come a long way since then with the team cementing itself as one of the front-runners across both competitions reaching finals and picking up silverware.
The team achieved it’s first of three three Challenge Cup wins in 2009, picking up the League Leaders’ Shield in 2011 and making consecutive Grand Final appearances in 2012 and 2013.
The club has seen a number of big name players come and go with Tony at the helm including the likes of current stars Joel Monaghan and Trent Waterhouse, and the recently retired Brett Hodgson to name a few. Plus the progression of young British talent including Chris Hill, Stefan Ratchford, Richie Myler and Ben Currie.
Reflecting on his first five years Tony said: “I’ve enjoyed all of it. We’ve had some tough times and some fantastic times and they are all a privilege for me to be a part of. It’s flown very quickly; when somebody reminded it was five years I was a bit surprised.
“I’m really privileged; there are so many highlights and even some of the lowlights have been great for our development as a club and our resilience.
“We’ve had to stick together through good and bad and that’s what being a part of a sporting club is about. I’m very honoured to be heading up this club at the moment.”

Picture shows Tony Smith lifting the Challenge Cup in 2009 with former club captain Adrian Morley.