Briers' decision to stay at Wolves disappoints suitors

From a different player, you would call it loyalty, but Lee Briers' decision to stay with Warrington, even if they are relegated from Super League at the end of this season, looks to many people suspiciously like a lack of ambition.

Given the current shortage of good British half-backs, the prospect of Briers' contract at Warrington expiring while the club battled to stay up alerted all-comers to his possible availability.

Widnes made him what they regarded as a generous offer, Wigan saw him as a potential replacement for Adrian Lam, if he could not agree a contract extension, and even his former club, St Helens, were monitoring the situation.

Surely, at the very least, Briers would sit tight and see what level Warrington would be playing at next season. Not a bit of it; last week he signed a three-year extension with no get-out clause, committing himself to what could be a sinking ship until he is 27.

"It was a big decision, but in the back of my mind I always wanted to stay at Warrington," he says. "I had a few other offers, but I've chosen the right option for my family and myself.

"I've been happy here for five years and I'm quite happy with my decision."

It is still difficult to believe that Briers – one of a mere handful of half-backs who could conceivably slot into a Great Britain team – would rather play in the Northern Ford Premiership, or its successor, next season than leave a club where his first five years have involved more struggle than success.

"I'm not thinking about relegation, because I don't think it's going to happen. People talk about wanting a new challenge, but what could be a bigger challenge than keeping this club in the main league and helping it become one of the top clubs?"

The easiest thing for Briers to say would be that it was the appointment of Paul Cullen as Warrington coach last week that persuaded him to stay. In fact, the decision was already made – although, like anyone with the Wolves at heart, he is hopeful that the new boss is the man for the job.

"I know him from when he was here before and he's a good lad. He's also Warrington through and through, which is important. He hasn't had time to change much yet, but as time goes on, he'll put more of his own stamp on the way we play.

"We're not that far away. It's just silly mistakes at important times that have been letting us down."

That was certainly the case at Widnes on Sunday, when Warrington let a promising position slide to lose by a single point. It does not get any easier on the Bank Holiday weekend, when they play Wigan on Monday, and the chances are that they will go into the last two weeks of the season needing wins over their fellow strugglers, Salford and Wakefield, to survive in Super League.

It is not, you would think, the ideal way to catch the eye of the Great Britain coach, David Waite, for this autumn's series against New Zealand.

Briers has had a chequered international career. He was in the squad against Australia last year, but after playing in the warm-up in France, was studiously ignored for the three Ashes Tests, with the word coming out of the Great Britain camp that his attitude had not impressed.

The player says he was never given an explanation for his exclusion, although he has acted on one piece of advice by increasing his playing weight by a stone. He was still found wanting when his claims were weighed recently and he was left out of a 40-man preparatory squad to face the Kiwis.

Briers' route back could be via the Wales team, for whom he has produced eye-catching performances in the past that have highlighted his gift for conjuring up the unexpected. Neil Kelly, who tried to sign him for Widnes, named him yesterday in the squad to play New Zealand at Cardiff in October.

Apart from Warrington's relegation battle, it will be the only stage for Briers to try to demonstrate that he really is a player capable of competing at the highest level. He has already shown that he cannot be accused of shirking an unglamorous challenge.