26/05/2026
2025/26 Season review: What might be possible?
At the annual pre-season meeting, the team and coaches came together. We'd just been promoted into a division that 12 months prior we'd been relegated from. Nevertheless, we were optimistic as we spoke of a vision of how we wanted to represent the town. We discussed how Warrington teams of the past had played and what kind of team this one could be; the style of rugby we wanted to play and what we would stand for.
We also spoke about how people conform to what they think is possible, referencing Aussie farmer, Cliff Young, who broke the ultra marathon record at 60 years old in his wellies. He didn't know what everyone else did, that it wasn't possible to run that far in that time without sleep. No one had taught him you couldn't do that, so he did it - breaking the record by 10 hours. So without barriers (mental or otherwise), what is actually possible? If Warrington weren't just the also rans, just a Union team in a League town; if their junior players didn't always leave to play elsewhere; if we had the backing with an aligned playing, coaching and management team; if we built a place where performance, honesty and effort all counted. With our catchment and the talent we know is here, what might actually be possible? We're still finding out but with 2 promotions in 2 years - the early signs are strong.
The coaching team are head coach, Richard Park assisted by John Callander and Dave Hartill.
We asked Richard about the team, "We're a relatively young side with time to grow and a healthy pipeline of talented Colts coming through. Training numbers are up by 20% year-on-year which has transferred into performances. Next season we will be mixing it with some prestigious clubs: Waterloo, Manchester and Birkenhead Park….all big clubs with good fan bases. But we've not won a raffle to be in this division, it's hard earned. We aim to be competitive and let teams know what we're about."
John Callander speaks about what the club is trying to achieve, "Me, Dave and Parky all played for the club so we're invested. We want our past players and the hundreds of families associated to the club to be proud of the team, and for our fantastic juniors to support and want to play for their club as adults. In our last league game and cup final this season there were just 2 players that hadn't come through our junior section. With several youngsters making their 1st team debuts and Colts playing in our 2nd team, who were also promoted."
At the end of the 2024/25 season Warrington secured promotion and (for the 1st time in our club history) won some silverware. Back in May 2025 captain Dan Fleming lifted The Lancashire Trophy. A few weeks ago in May 2026 he again lifted the Lancashire Trophy and again secured promotion...and next season, Douglas in the Isle of Mann is in our division - GET IN!!!
Dave describes the Warrington style of play, "My main focus is our attack, but our big issue initially was our defence. Warrington used to be renowned for a hard-hitting defence and we wanted to earn that reputation back. We were letting teams bully us. This was going to stop. We needed to look after each other and go after teams. On this foundation we were able to build our attack. We knew this would take longer but we persevered and at the mid-way point, last year it started to click and become instinctive. We're still a way off where we we can take this but we have some wonderfully talented players who can attack at pace with bodies in motion; playing within a shape, yet with the room to express themselves. When we find our flow we're pretty hard to handle"
Playing at pace has produced some fantastic tries - and an awful lot of them: 1,110 points this season, a new club record, with 122 points in a single game - also a club record. With the best attack and defence in each division over the past 2 seasons.
So we've started this thing, it's on the move and we'd love people to join us for the ride. 2 years in with this team and coaching setup and the team is fully committed, playing some fantastic rugby and making some wonderful memories. These players have laid the platform, we need to keep building to see now what might actually be possible?
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A huge thank you to everyone that has played their part this season. Our wonderful, growing band of supporters and sponsors, including headline sponsors: JBV Demolition & Claremont, Club President: Clemmy, Pottsy and the Match-day team, Glynis and the Grappenhall Sports staff, the management, coaches and players from the whole club. Enjoy the off-season, refresh and prepare - a wonderful challenge awaits.
