England stars Ben Currie and Mike Cooper jumped into the stands as fed-up Warrington fans turned on each other following their latest loss against Leeds Rhinos on Friday.
After another dismal defeat, one furious Wolves fan headed down from a hospitality box to carry on arguing with a fellow supporter. And that led to Currie and Cooper getting involved in unsavoury scenes at Halliwell Jones Stadium.
Second-row Currie was heard shouting up to one of the Wolves directors if the disgruntled spectator was a member of his party. He and Cooper were eventually encouraged to head back out of the stand away from the commotion.
It was a fourth straight defeat for Wolves who were shambolic at times in a humiliating Super League loss. It is no surprise some fans were irate - many voting with their feet by walking out as early as the 66th minute - as the perennial title hopefuls slumped to tenth spot.
Asked about the confrontation in the main stand, Daryl Powell said: “I don’t really know the full situation there. But you don’t want to see that, do you?
“I understand everyone getting frustrated because people pay their money and they want to see a winning team, don’t they? And they have a right to vent their frustration. I don’t think they have a right to get physical with anybody.
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“Whether that happened or not I don’t know. But if it did, it shouldn't because, whether it’s players’ families or whoever, we can’t have that. It’s just not on. Players are putting their bodies on the line. Whether they are getting everything right, that sometimes is difficult.
“When you play rugby league it’s a tough sport out there. And we don’t want that. We want all our fans to be happy and to enjoy what they’re seeing. At the moment, that’s inconsistent. And we need to make it more consistent.”
Warrington’s defence was embarrassing on occasions as rampant Rhinos, who have had form issues galore themselves, ran in eight tries. New Leeds coach Rohan Smith only arrived a few weeks ago but has now delivered successive wins to get their season back on track.
But Powell was left scratching his head at another bewilderingly bad display from his star-studded side. His debut season since joining from Castleford is fast turning into a nightmare. England star George Williams has built a career on his brilliant kicking game but he could have rarely kicked worse than he did here.
As boos rang around the ground at half-time and full-time, Powell admitted: “It hurts like hell. It’s tough. Leeds were excellent but at the moment we’re up and down. We weren't good enough. There’s some key lessons for us.
“We’re on a journey. I understand fans' frustration, 100 per cent. Nobody wants to go through what they’re watching. That is clearly not good enough. We have a lot to improve on.
“We’re in a tough spot. We’re looking to try and create a dynasty at the club. That might seem a bit distant at the moment but it’s a situation we’re capable of getting out of.”
To top off the surreal night, Powell’s post-match press conference was halted early as a fire alarm was raised and the stadium had to be evacuated. In the game itself, brilliant Leeds captain Kruise Leeming was hugely instrumental from hooker while wingers David Fusitu’a and Ash Handley both weighed in with braces.
But former Wolves players Richie Myler, Blake Austin and Bodene Thompson all shone against their old club who were worryingly inept. Yet Warrington should have been 12-0 up inside the opening five minutes only to waste brilliant build-up play by bombing two clear-cut chances.
Instead, Rhinos, who lost Morgan Gannon to a head knock early on, went in at the break 20-4 ahead. That was largely down to scoring three tries in five blistering minutes in response to Matty Ashton’s score. Leeming, Hardaker and James Donaldson all did the damage after some sublime play.
Rhyse Martin only improved two of the four first half tries but added a penalty soon after the restart. Wolves had a chance to respond but Matty Davis wasted another opportunity spilling Ashton’s pass. And Handley made him immediately pay with his first try as the boos from the Wolves fans came again before Fusitu’a added his second.
Smith praised: “I liked how we scrambled out of those early problems. And probably the most pleasing part was the number of times people got under the ball and stopped it being put down.
“That gave us an opportunity to play how we’ve practised. I liked playing each point for what it was worth rather than being too structured. We showed good patience and good calmness. It’ll give us some belief to keep working on.”
