By James Parr

WARRINGTON Wolves have appointed a new Strength and Conditioning coach as they prepare for their assault on Super League XIII.
Paul Stridgeon, 27, was selected out of a pool of 70 candidates who applied for the position with the Wolves.
Paul joins the club after five successful years, three of which were spent as Head of Conditioning at Heineken European Cup holders London Wasps RFC.
He commented: "I'm relishing the opportunity of working with the players here. The potential within Warrington Wolves is huge and I'm looking forward to helping the elite athletes here realise their full physical potential."
Head Coach Paul Cullen is delighted at the new appointment and is looking forward to working with Paul.
He said: "I am a delighted to welcome Paul (Stridgeon) on board after a very thorough pro-active recruitment process. He has spent the last five years working with proven winners at Wasps, and it is clear to us that his Super League ambitions match that of ours."
His appointment at Wolves gives Paul the chance to return to the North West where he made his name as an amateur wrestler and even represent England at the Common Wealth Games in 2002.



Morley to lead Wolves

By Gary Skentelbery

Great Britain international and Wolves forward, Adrian Morley has been handed the Wolves captaincy for the 2008 season.
The 30- year old former Eccles Junior takes over the captaincy from Lee Briers, who has decided to step down from the role after five years as team captain.
Morley brings a wealth of experience to the captain’s role, with a career that has seen him win a NRL Grand Final at Sydney Roosters and a Super League crown with Bradford Bulls in 2005.
“It’s a real honour to captain the side. It’s something that I’m really looking forward to,” stated Morley. “Paul Cullen pulled me aside last week and said he wanted to take some pressure off Lee Briers and asked if I would like to take up the role? I didn’t think twice about it, I’m excited to take up the challenge.”
The honour of vice captain has been awarded to Wolves’ number 9, Jon Clarke. Clarke has been stalwart of the club since 2001 and over the last year has developed into a fully-fledged international, helping Great Britain to a test series win over New Zealand. “I’m proud to get the call to be vice- captain, it’s a big step up for me, Mozza is captain but I’m there to support him in his role” enthused Clarke.
Clarke, who was recently awarded a new four year contract that came on the back of winning the first international honours of his career with Great Britain this autumn, is delighted to be given the opportunity: “It’s been a good 12 months for me, personally, on the back of a not great season for Warrington. But with that said, I won’t rest on my laurels, I want a better year and a bigger year with Warrington in 2008.”
Head Coach Paul Cullen felt once Lee Briers had decided to step down from the role, Adrian Morley was the man to fill the void: “ It was an obvious choice. His seniority and his international record was a major factor in my decision process. He has all the right attributes: the way he lives his life, his attitude at training and his attitude on the field is simply first class.” Lee Briers has captained the Wolves with distinction since he took the role from Matt Rodwell in 2002. However, Both Briers and Cullen felt moving in to engage Super League XIII that now was the time for change: “I felt going forward that we needed to take the pressure off Briers, both on and off the field, and relive him of the pressure of responsibility for everything we do on the field coming from him,” confirmed Cullen.
“The bottom line is I want him to turn up for work with a smile on his face to play football, and have the responsibility for that and that only.”