“WE need to get better. It’s as simple as that.”

Those were the words of Steve Price as the dust settles on another season that ultimately ended in disappointment for Warrington Wolves.

A season the likes of which we have never seen before and will hopefully never see again as rugby league struggled on through the Covid-19 pandemic ended in painfully familiar fashion.

Just like last year, The Wire fell at the first play-off hurdle as Hull FC – a side only involved in the post-season shake-up thanks to a late change in the season’s structure – rode away with a 27-14 eliminator victory last Thursday.

Bringing home the Challenge Cup last year could have been seen as off-setting the disappointing league finish, but The Wire end 2020 empty-handed amid fierce criticism from sections of their fan base.

And so it begs the question – where do The Wire go from here?

While keen to highlight the highs in a year in which merely getting to the end could be considered a success, Price admits there is much to work on in what will be another critical off-season.

“It has been a difficult year on a lot of fronts, but I’d like to think a lot of players and staff have been able to grow,” the Wire boss told the Guardian.

“We were playing through a lot of adversity, but we need to get better. It’s as simple as that.

“There’s certain aspects of our season we can be proud of. There was some really good footy played in that nine-game winning streak either side of lockdown.

“At the end of the day though, we couldn’t get it right when it mattered and we all have to take responsibility for that, myself included.

“It’s hard when you have high standards within our club and we didn’t hit them.

“We’ve got a bit of work to do in the off-season and a great opportunity for growth presents itself.

“There’s a few things I need to address and sort out going forward.

“There’s a lot of good things we are doing defensively but there’s a few we need to be doing better on offensively and in terms of our chemistry.

“That will be addressed.”

Despite losing to the Black and Whites, The Wire’s season did not officially end until Tuesday afternoon.

They were kept on stand-by in case there were any Covid issues with the remaining four semi-finalists.

When all received a clean bill of healthy in the weekly round of testing, however, Price’s men were formally stood down from duty.

“We came in on Monday and had our standard Covid testing and did a review of the Hull FC game,” he said.

“It wouldn’t have sat well with me to have played again when we’d been knocked out. We were beaten fair and square.

“We got those results back and everyone was cleared in the other four teams and that was the best way forward.

“I would have been disappointed to have been brought back in like that.”