WOLVES club captain Adrian Morley has issued a rallying cry of “do or die” to his team mates ahead of their clash with bitter rivals St Helens this Saturday.
Morley, who will be looking to celebrate his 31st birthday with a win on Saturday, believes it is time for the Wolves to end their 39-year wait for a Challenge Cup victory over the current holders.
He said: “There is nothing like a cup tie to get everyone fired up. I think the fact you don’t get two bites of the cherry in the cup means I won’t need to do much motivation. The boys know that it’s do or die.
“We haven’t got any injury concerns from the weekend and everyone will be raring to go. It’s not every day that you get to take on the cup holders at Knowsley Road, the boys’ will definitely be fired up, it’s just a case of fine tuning things.”
Both sides chalked up valuable victories at Millennium Magic weekend in Cardiff, but the Wolves know to topple a Saint
team in a good run of form will take some doing.
“Saints are playing particularly well at the moment, it was there to see against Wigan in Cardiff. They are no mugs and a massive attacking force. Up front they have Cayliss and Graham who going forward are very tough to pin down. Saints are a champion side that are dangerous from 1 to 17. If you let them get on a roll they can score points from anywhere. It’s all about getting our defence sorted and our forwards win the battle in the middle of the park,” Morley said.
Adding, “There is no reason why we can’t be as competitive as we have been in the two previous games we have played against them this year, we actually led for the majority of those games and we put ourselves in a position to win those two games. We need to do more of the same, it’s going to be tough, but we are looking forward to it.”
Pundits are not optimistic of Warrington progressing to the next round, but Morley believes the character shown in last week’s 36-34 victory over Huddersfield has done the Wolves a power of good.
He commented: “It’s no secret we were in a confidence lull, losing the last four prior to the Giants and things were not looking good at half time. But the manner of our comeback last week has given us a massive confidence boost. It proves we can score points and plenty of them. Now is the time to get our defence sorted out.
“We’re conscious that we have to play for 80 minutes against Saints, but I don’t think that we have a psychological barrier when it comes to playing them. I feel Saints raise their game against Warrington as they should and the fact it is a local derby, as we do, but I think in the past we have been guilty of letting our foot off the gas when we could be putting games to bed.”
Morley, a previous winner of the competition in 1999 with Leeds Rhinos, is desperate to repeat the climb up the famous Wembley steps with Warrington.
He added: “Winning the Cup with Leeds Rhinos in 1999 at Wembley was so special. All my family were there and I remember so vividly my brother coming down the steps after we had picked up the trophy, giving me a hug and pointing up to where my Mum and Dad were sat, I really filled up when I saw them. My Mum and Dad were stood on the chairs waving and cheering, they were so proud, that will stay in my mind forever.”
Morley, who will be looking to celebrate his 31st birthday with a win on Saturday, believes it is time for the Wolves to end their 39-year wait for a Challenge Cup victory over the current holders.
He said: “There is nothing like a cup tie to get everyone fired up. I think the fact you don’t get two bites of the cherry in the cup means I won’t need to do much motivation. The boys know that it’s do or die.
“We haven’t got any injury concerns from the weekend and everyone will be raring to go. It’s not every day that you get to take on the cup holders at Knowsley Road, the boys’ will definitely be fired up, it’s just a case of fine tuning things.”
Both sides chalked up valuable victories at Millennium Magic weekend in Cardiff, but the Wolves know to topple a Saint
team in a good run of form will take some doing.“Saints are playing particularly well at the moment, it was there to see against Wigan in Cardiff. They are no mugs and a massive attacking force. Up front they have Cayliss and Graham who going forward are very tough to pin down. Saints are a champion side that are dangerous from 1 to 17. If you let them get on a roll they can score points from anywhere. It’s all about getting our defence sorted and our forwards win the battle in the middle of the park,” Morley said.
Adding, “There is no reason why we can’t be as competitive as we have been in the two previous games we have played against them this year, we actually led for the majority of those games and we put ourselves in a position to win those two games. We need to do more of the same, it’s going to be tough, but we are looking forward to it.”
Pundits are not optimistic of Warrington progressing to the next round, but Morley believes the character shown in last week’s 36-34 victory over Huddersfield has done the Wolves a power of good.
He commented: “It’s no secret we were in a confidence lull, losing the last four prior to the Giants and things were not looking good at half time. But the manner of our comeback last week has given us a massive confidence boost. It proves we can score points and plenty of them. Now is the time to get our defence sorted out.
“We’re conscious that we have to play for 80 minutes against Saints, but I don’t think that we have a psychological barrier when it comes to playing them. I feel Saints raise their game against Warrington as they should and the fact it is a local derby, as we do, but I think in the past we have been guilty of letting our foot off the gas when we could be putting games to bed.”
Morley, a previous winner of the competition in 1999 with Leeds Rhinos, is desperate to repeat the climb up the famous Wembley steps with Warrington.
He added: “Winning the Cup with Leeds Rhinos in 1999 at Wembley was so special. All my family were there and I remember so vividly my brother coming down the steps after we had picked up the trophy, giving me a hug and pointing up to where my Mum and Dad were sat, I really filled up when I saw them. My Mum and Dad were stood on the chairs waving and cheering, they were so proud, that will stay in my mind forever.”
