ACTING coach Paul Cullen was a proud man after his Warrington side's memorable victory over Wigan.

The 34-year-old club skipper, who progressed from player, to A team coach, to first team coach in the space of a week, saluted his side for their honesty on Monday.

"That was a gutsy effort. I am proud of the effort put in by the players," he said.

"I have not had an adrenaline rush like that for a long time. I never thought I would get that rush again in a non-playing capacity and I liked the taste of it.

"As a team and individually we have not been honest enough lately. That dishonesty has cost two coaches their jobs.

"I set standards which I demand as a player and coach. I asked the boys for honesty and they responded to that superbly."

Cullen teamed up with Alex Murphy in a joint effort to coach the team for the big match, following John Dorahy's departure 48 hours earlier.

Yet it was Cullen who called all the shots and carried out the team talk.

He added: "I took advice from Alex, the board of directors and the players. But talk is cheap. The players had to go out on the pitch and do it. They proved a lot of people wrong out there."

Murphy said: "Paul took this job in very short notice and handled it very professionally. I am very proud of him.

"I asked the chairman if he could give the job to John Dorahy until Monday, because nobody deserved to be thrown in at the deep end like that!

"He has got a great future in coaching. We want him to serve his apprenticeship as assistant to our new coach before becoming the new Warrington coach within two years."

Cullen was thrilled with the support from the Wilderspool terraces, saying: "The supporters of this club are fair. They only want triers. Had we been beaten by Wigan we would still have had the same standing ovation."

However, he could not pinpoint why the Wolves had produced this great performance for him and yet failed to do so for Dorahy.

"I don't know the answer to that. John tried very hard. Many believe he was let down by people," he said.

"The game plan wasn't radically changed, although we tweaked things around the edges."

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