Widnes chairman heaps praise on Cullen.Byline: JOHN LAWLESSWIDNES chairman Steve O''Connor has praised head coach Paul Cullen Paul Cullen is the head coach at Super League club Warrington Wolves. Cullen joined Warrington Wolves in 1980, where he stayed for 17 years. He played mainly in the second row position at the club. After ending his playing career in 1996, Cullen moved into coaching. after he steered the Vikings to Northern Rail Cup glory on Sunday. The Vikings downed Championship hotshots Barrow Raiders Barrow Raiders are a British rugby league team from Barrow-in-Furness in Cumbria. They will play the 2007 season in National League Two. Barrow's colours are blue and white. History Early years Barrow FC were formed in 1875. It is thought that Tom H. 34-18 in the final at Blackpool with several of the players Cullen has brought in on loan playing a crucial role. O''Connor said: He''s definitely instilled some discipline. "They know where they stand with him and he doesn''t really carry passengers. "It''s taken him a little bit of time to work out how he can best set up his coaching regime and in the last five or six games we''ve seen some great performances." Cullen took over from caretaker boss John Stankevitch after previous head coach Steve McCormack Steve McCormack is the coach of National League One club Widnes Vikings. His first coaching appointment had been at Salford City Reds, who made him the youngest coach in Super League at the age of just 28 in 2001 but was sacked just 10 months later. was sacked earlier this season. After a sticky start, the former Warrington boss radically changed his squad''s training schedule and is now beginning to reap the rewards from the changes he has made. O''Connor added: We''ve had to have a couple of bad days to recognise the good days and had a season of ups and downs ups and downs pl.n. Alternating periods of good and bad fortune or spirits. ups and downs Noun, pl alternating periods of good and bad luck or high and low spirits . We''ve had some poor performances at Batley, Whitehaven and Leigh. "But I think we showed in the semi-final and final that this is a squad of players and a team that genuinely wants to go places. O'Connor also revealed that although his team has now met the playing criteria to apply for a Super League licence by winning the Northern Rail Cup, there will be no let up over the next two seasons. We''ve ticked a box but ultimately there are another four of those boxes to tick. If we''re good enough we can protect our position by stopping other clubs getting there. We''ll now be working tirelessly to ensure we get into the Grand Final. "We want another great day out. CAPTION(S): BIG WIN: Skipper Mark Smith lifts the Northern Rail Cup |
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