WWST has donated over £260,000 to support rugby league Youth development in the town since our formation in 2002, thanks to our amazing members and funds raised from our annual Quiz Night and other events.  This support means we can invest in the young players and give them the best possible chance to thrive.

Squadbuilder is a scheme which enables Warrington Wolves’ supporters  and businesses to actively contribute to the development, coaching and promotion of young players at all levels.  This includes aiding junior and youth teams in our Community Clubs and the coaching team at the Wolves Community Foundation.  We also support the Youth Development team at Warrington Wolves developing HOME GROWN players through the player pathway of Prospects, Scholars, Academy and Reserves, right through to fully professional Wolves’ players.  We regularly meet with the club’s coaches and ensure all funds raised are invested wisely.

For 2024 we are the proud sponsor of Head of Youth, Ryan O’Brien and we are also sponsor of the training kit for the Scholarship and Academy players again this year.

We sponsored the PDRL, LDRL and Wheelchair rugby award categories at the 2023 Made of Steel awards.  We are delighted to continue our support of the Junior sections of our Community clubs by being a sponsor for the new role of Community Club Development officer – Peter Astley MBE. Pete has stepped down from being Chair of Trustees at the Foundation to take up this part time role and will be managed by our own Lee Mitchell, the Foundation manager.  Squadbuilder is a member of the Club’s Rugby League Reference Group.

We are delighted with the appointment of Gary Chambers in the new Director of Rugby role which will ensure the club is fully invested in the development of our Homegrown players.  Gary has devised a new Player Pathway at the club which ensures all players are developed to their full potential.  We are so proud of all our Wire players, but especially our Home-Grown players.  This includes internationals Ben Currie, Toby King, Joe Philbin and Josh Thewlis.  Brad Dwyer returns to the club for 2024. Congratulations to Josh Thewlis who was voted the BetFred Super League Young Player of the Year for 2023 after an outstanding season.

Squadbuilder was instrumental in the creation of the special Wire logo which all Homegrown Super League Warrington players are entitled to proudly wear on their matchday playing shirt.  Look out for it next time you are at a game.

The emergence of players like Connor Wrench, Luke Thomas, Tom Whitehead, Adam Holroyd, Leon Hayes, Jake Thewlis, Josh Lynch and Lucas Green is a great source of pride. Academy Captain Lucas Green made his first team debut in April 2023 and went on to make 5 first team appearances before his season was sadly curtailed by injury.  Lucas Green, Zac Bardsley-Rowe and Nolan Tupaea have all been promoted to the first team squad for 2024. Congratulations to Stephen Antrobus, Joe Bajer, Ben Hartill, Noah High, Sam Marshall, Logan Raughter, Peter Scott, Ewan Smith and Adam Whalley who have been promoted to the Reserve Team squad for 2024.  Look out for several very exciting young players coming through the Academy including Arron Lindop, Frank Sergent and Tom McKinney.

It was a memorable year for the Academy in 2023 with the highlights being the Grand Final appearance against St Helens in September and the Australia trip in October. .

The winner of the Pauline Nelson Memorial Trophy for the Academy Player of the Year 2023 was Joe Bajer.  Joe had an exceptional season and was a worthy recipient of this award.

Squadbuilder is very proud to have been involved in the Wolves Academy tour of Australia in October 2023.  The tour showed the commitment of the club to support the development of our Homegrown players.  Club Chairman Stuart Middleton donated £62,000 which matched the funds raised by the for 45 players and staff in the tour party.  We facilitated the immense fundraising effort required to support the 3 week trip by helping organise events.  This included a retro stall at the Neighbourhood Weekender, a Question of Rugby at the Kings Head and the memorable acoustic set by starsailor at the Halliwell Jones Stadium.

The Academy were based in Penrith and Sydney playing 4 games while there including a memorable victory against Wests Tigers and a prestige game against New South Wales Under 17’s.  The trip gave invaluable experience to everyone involved and memories for life.  We really appreciate the fantastic support of all the Australia kit and player sponsors who committed to support our Homegrown players.

Gary Chambers promotion to Director of Rugby has instigated a series of changes across the pathway staff for 2024. Ryan O’Brien is promoted to Head of Youth and will continue to coach our Reserve Grade assisted by Alex Bielby.  Mark Smith has been promoted from his role of Scholarship Coach to Academy Head Coach.  Paul Berry, current Wales Head of Youth and Head Coach of the U16s international squad, has taken up the role of Scholarship Coach.  Lee Westwood, who has stood down as Women’s Head Coach, has been appointed as Pathway Coach and Coordinator.  As part of this role, he will assist with our Reserve and Academy squads. Congratulations to analyst Kieran Bellamy and Physio Adam Gummerson who have been promoted to the first team squad support staff for 2024.  Welcome to our new analyst Alex Flint and physio Ryan Conville.

We are committed to supporting new first team coach Sam Burgess.  Sam brings a freshness to the club, and we sincerely hope his playing experience will translate to being a top-class coach.  The arrival of Martin Gleeson adds class to the coaching set up with Rich Marshall continuing as Assistant coach.

Please look out for our events in 2024.  This will include the annual Quiz Night on 18th June at the Halliwell Jones Stadium.  We also plan to hold a couple of Fan’s Forums at the HJ which will feature representatives from all the Warrington Wolves badged teams including the Women’s and Girls teams.

Squadbuilder welcomes new members. Membership starts from only £5 a year

To join visit https://membermojo.co.uk/squadbuilder