Angry confrontation after Leeds Rhinos thrash Warrington Wolves at Halliwell Jones Stadium: Daryl Powell gives his reaction
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Rhinos’ 40-4 victory led to heated exchanges between one fan and two Warrington players, after the home team had been booed from the field at both half-time and the end of the game.
The man, who had apparently been watching the game from the corporate area in the main stand, shouted criticism of the team following the final whistle.
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Hide AdThat escalated into an argument with fellow supporters as Warrington players posed for pictures at pitchside.
Wolves forwards Ben Currie and Mike Cooper both allegedly became involved in the dispute after crossing the advertising hoardings, though the verbal exchanges did not develop into anything more serious.
It was Warrington’s fourth successive defeat and they dropped two places to 10th in the table.
Asked about the incident in his post-match press conference, coach Daryl Powell said: “I don’t really know the full situation but you never want to see that.”
He insisted: “I understand everybody getting frustrated.
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Hide Ad“People pay their money and want to see a winning team, and they have every right to vent their frustrations, but I don’t think they have a right to get physical with anybody.
“I don’t know whether or not that happened but if it did, it shouldn’t do.
“We can’t have that, players are putting their bodies on the line whether or not they’re getting it right every time.
“We all want our fans to be happy and enjoy what they’re seeing. It’s inconsistent at the moment and we need to make it more consistent.”
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Hide AdPowell, a former Leeds coach who joined Warrington from Castleford Tigers in pre-season, praised Rhinos and in particular their captain Kruise Leeming.
“I thought Leeds played really well,” he stated.
“I don’t think we handled Leeming well at all.
“Clearly his performance was outstanding, he pulled us apart.”
Powell's press conferfence was brought to a halt after a fire alarm inside the stadium.
Ironically, Rhinos fans had chanted 'is there a fire drill?' after an exodus of home supporters in the final quarter of the match.