Wednesday 29 July 2015 13:00, UK
Richie Myler has welcomed the extra competition for his scrum-half spot as he eyes a trip to Wembley during his Warrington swansong.
The Wolves' current No 7 is joining Catalans Dragons at the end of the season but he wants to leave on a high, with the first hurdle being Saturday’s Ladbrokes Challenge Cup semi-final against Hull KR.
Myler is likely to take his place in the Warrington line up against Hull KR but his position will soon come under threat by his replacement – Australian half-back Chris Sandow – who will fly over from Sydney as soon as his visa arrives.
Sandow is eligible both for the Super 8s, which start next Thursday, and for the cup final at Wembley if Warrington get past the Robins, but Myler insists he is unfazed by the additional pressure to impress coach Tony Smith.
"It's a massive boost for the club," Myler said of the Sandow signing. "If they want to bring in a player with that much quality and they can afford to do that, then they're going to.
"If you've three or four half-backs that are all playing really well and it's hard to get in the team, then I think you're going to get better results and you're going to be in bigger games.
"There's me, Gaz (Gareth O'Brien), Dec Patten and also Stef Ratchford who can play in the halves. It's another man to play with. It's a challenge.
"I'd like to think, knowing Smithy and the relationship we all have with him, that the players who are playing the best will get to play."
Smith did not offer Myler a new contract but says the player can still play a major role in the final two months of the season despite the signing of Sandow.
"I don't think it's just Rich, there's Gaz O'Brien and anybody else who is in the mix, they have got to play well," Smith said. "They all want to play in all these big games at the back end of the year and that's healthy."
Smith is tipping Myler to make a success of his move to the south of France, where he will partner Australian Todd Carney in the halves as well as former team-mate Michael Monaghan, who is now a member of the Dragons' coaching staff.
"I think he'll be good over there, particularly if Todd Carney is on the field," Smith said.
"What we have found is that Rich probably hasn't been able to step in and do what Lee Briers did for us on a regular basis. He's a different sort of player and we've had to look for a different option.
"We've never thought that Rich wasn't a good player, he just plays a different role to what we need within our team."
We've never thought that Rich wasn't a good player, he just plays a different role to what we need within our team.
Myler says he is now playing with a smile on his face after finding contentment on and off the pitch in recent weeks.
He became a father for the first time when his TV presenter wife Helen Skelton gave birth to their son Ernie and believes securing his future has helped him return to form.
"The fact I know where my future is means that weight of pressure is lifted off me now," he said. "I can focus on the end of the year and just enjoy the remaining games I have with Warrington.
"I think that's come out in my play over the last few weeks. I'm playing a bit more relaxed and a bit more with a smile on my face.
"I think it was the right time for the club and the right time for me personally to move on.
"It's really exciting, moving to another country where you don't speak the language – yet – and experience different cultures and I'm really looking forward to it. Timing-wise it was perfect, with Ernie having just been born.
"And having the opportunity to go and work with Todd Carney and Michael Monaghan again was a big factor for me."
