Wood hot on staying put (From Warrington Guardian)

Wood hot on staying put

WARRINGTON Wolves' future is looking bright as young players are showing great desire to make a name for themselves with the club.

And it is Paul Wood who is leading the way.

Wood has told the Guardian that he wants to spend his entire career with Wolves and he is now convinced that rising talent like Jamie Durbin, Nick Owen and Richard Varkulis are ready and hungry for Super League football.

Another good sign of young players' interest in plying their trade with Wolves is the growing numbers joining the club after being released from the likes of Wigan and St Helens due to salary cap reasons. Liam McGovern, Mark Roberts and Kevin Picton are the latest to be training with the club.

But the example shining brightest of all is Great Britain forward Wood, who has given a further boost to Wolves this week fresh from his delight in signing a new two-year contract.

The 21-year-old Wiganer said: "I want to stay with Warrington, hopefully, for the rest of my career.

"I like everything about Warrington and I'm settled at the club.

"It's not far from where I live. I enjoy the company of my teammates. There is a great team spirit. Paul Cullen is one of the best coaches in Super League and so I feel staying with Wolves will improve my game.

"I like the fans, the new stadium, there's a great buzz. I really do think Warrington fans are the best in Super League. They create a lot of noise and are always behind the team."

Wood gained his first GB call-up at the end of last season but a shoulder injury playing for his country against New Zealand A appeared to put paid to an appearance against Australia in the winter Test series.

He has had a shoulder operation in the close season but will be fit in time for the start of the new season, when, due to strong team building, there will be extra competition for his jersey this year.

Wood said: "All I want to do this year is play well for Warrington. That will be my whole concentration and if I do play well then there shouldn't be a reason for not getting another call-up.

"I must be consistent all year though. Hopefully I'll keep away from injury this year. If I do that my form then has to be good because if there's a dip in performance then there's players who can step in and fill the position.

"One of the good things about training is that everyone's talking about competition and where players are going to play. It's never been like that before at Warrington in my time.

"There's quality players all through the squad and that's a good thing.

"We've got 26 full time players and there's some good young talent coming through in the likes of Durbin, Varkulis and Owen.

"They'll be ready for SL this year. They've been on the fringe of getting in the squad over the past two years. This year they'll definitely be buzzing.

"They'll want to get in on the action. They've trained well and I think they've done okay in the warm-up games too so they're ready for the step up."