To who may be concerned,

I wish I could speak on behalf of all Warrington Wolves fans, alas the only opinion I can offer is my own, but I’m sure several of my sentiments will be shared by many other fans. There are two words I want to talk to the players about, duty and commitment. I desperately hope I am reminding you of things you already know.

As soon as people pay to watch you represent their team and their town, you have a duty to give of your best. Commitment is about much more than trying hard for eighty minutes every week.

Let’s start with that sense of duty. After this season’s home game with Catalans, I was walking out of the stadium when I heard a father talking to his young son. What he told him was something along the lines of: ‘That’s what it’s always like, we never win anything, ever, I’m glad you’ve learnt that at a young age.’ I hope that makes you feel as terrible as I felt upon hearing that. You should count yourself incredibly lucky to have such understanding and accepting fans. It seems that as long as you make the play-offs virtually every year and get the occasional play-off game win and cup run to the semi finals, then the majority of Warrington fans will be happy. If you all were at St Helen’s or Wigan I’m certain the fans would be demanding trophies of you. When I think of Warrington fans in particular and sports fans in general, I am reminded of a quote from Grantland Rice, an old American sportswriter: ‘For when the One Great Scorer comes to write against your name, He marks - not that you won or lost - But how you played the game.’ Fans just want to see you being as passionate about their team as they are.

Believe it or not, for a lot of fans, coming to watch you play is the highlight of their week. Often it is the case that their season ticket is the one luxury item they allow themselves to splash out on. So the next time you play remember you are playing not just for yourself, your team mates and your coaches, but you are playing for the people who pay your wages, the people who allow you to play the game you love for a living. Baseball legend Joe DiMaggio was quoted as saying: ‘There is always some kid who may be seeing me for the first or last time. I owe him my best.’ Michael Jordan has said that he played for the one person in the crowd who had never seen him play before, and that he wanted to make sure they saw something he or she would never forget. If two absolute legends can be that mindful of the fans then I’m sure you can. This club has not been Champions since 1955 or won the Challenge Cup since 1974, the fans deserve a lot more. At least when you score a try always celebrate with them, not just with each other.

I suggest during your warm up for the next game, you pick out one face in the crowd. It might be a child, might be a man or woman of any age, maybe they’re in a wheelchair, it really doesn’t matter which fan it is. Focus on their face for a few seconds and then for that match feel like you are performing for them, remembering all they are asking of you is maximum effort. Imagine how disappointed they will be to see one of there heroes playing with anything less than that effort. It might just help if you make it personal, rather than just a mass of faceless people in the stands. After a game a lot of fans, particularly kids, come down to the front of the stands, hoping to get a closer look at you. Would it kill you to walk over to them and chat for a few minutes, maybe sign a few autographs? I know you’re exhausted after playing (or you should be), but I’m sure they won’t mind you sipping on your energy drink in between words. Certainly if you’re not in the squad for a particular game I can’t see anything stopping you doing this. Also I believe the club runs a lot of coaching sessions in schools, how many of you find out when they are and see if you’re free to go along? I’m sure the kids would love to see you. Being a role model is not a choice, you do have a choice as to whether you are a good one or a bad one. The fact that you have been born with the required physical attributes to play professional Rugby League, grown up in an area that allowed you to play the game, been spotted by a talent scout and managed to avoid career ending injuries, doesn’t make you better than the fans, it makes you luckier than the fans.

Onto commitment, like I said earlier, this is about so much more than the eighty minutes. It’s about all day every day throughout your career. How many of you do any extra practice outside of training sessions? Handling skills? Kicking? Footwork? Balance? How many of you watch extra video footage to help develop your understanding of the game, or get more feedback on your own performances? At your level coaches should be there to offer you tactical advice, set up a game plan for the team, point out strengths and weaknesses of the opponents and spot any ways your technique can improve. They should not have to motivate you to play the greatest game at the top level.

If you’re lucky your career will last fifteen years, trust me you’ll be even luckier if after you finish playing you find something you enjoy as much as playing. You must have all started out playing as a kid, dreaming of the day when you could play at the same level as your heroes. You are living out that dream, you’re living out the dream of so many fans, act like it. Play with great enthusiasm, with a smile on your face and dedicate every single day to becoming a better Rugby League Player. If you must drink alcohol (although I can’t imagine why you are looking for a greater high than playing professional sport), then can it not wait until the end of your short career, or in between seasons, or at least be severely reduced?

A quick few humble comments for the coaches now. Looking at the players it would appear they spend too long pumping themselves up in the gym and nowhere near enough, running, passing, catching and playing together to develop and understanding.? Don’t forget there is a duty on your team to entertain as well as win, think which players would the fans get excited about seeing in the line up. I’m sure most fans would much prefer to see a team that makes a few mistakes because they play so positively, than a team that looks predictable and afraid to make mistakes. In this relegation free era, there is one less excuse for a negative, grinding style of play.

That’s my tirade over, if any of you can look yourself in the mirror and honestly say you are already doing all the things I’ve talked about, then you have my utmost respect. Here’s hoping you all turn the season around, whilst remembering only you guys can make that happen.

Yours in eternal hope.

Spirit of ’55.