Warrington’s Tom Lineham reveals unlikely inspiration behind change in form

TOM Lineham hopes putting lessons into practice at Warrington can earn him a move elsewhere – using The Lion King as inspiration.

The winger is heading out of the Halliwell Jones Stadium for 2022, with a move to his Yorkshire roots his preferred option.

Tom Lineham is using The Lion King as inspiration to change his formSWPIX.COM

And he hopes showing he has put teachings into his game – notably cutting out stupid penalties – can help seal a deal, because incoming boss Daryl Powell does not want him.

Lineham, 28, also revealed his unlikely reference point as he said: “In The Lion King, Rafiki says, ‘The past, you can either run from it or learn from it.’ I’ll be doing the latter.

“Within an organisation, you want to be known as an asset, not a liability – it was getting to the point where I was getting a bit of a reputation.

“My aim is to eradicate any on-field disciplinary misdemeanours from my game, kick on and do some good things.

Lineham is likely to move clubs for 2022SWPIX.COM

“I’ve made a conscious effort to change my mindset and approach and since I’ve been back things have been going very well.

“There’s a new coach coming in who doesn’t know me and hasn’t worked with me, and one man’s medicine can be another man’s poison.

“If he prefers another style of winger to me, that’s life but the best form of negotiation is good performances.”

Warrington boss Steve Price will not repeat England’s experiment by playing back rower Ben Currie at centre as they look to make it four defeats in a row for Wigan.

Liam Marshall is telling Wigan’s players to ignore the outside noiseSWPIX.COM

If online moans are to be believed, it should be the end of coach Adrian Lam and owner Ian Lenagan needs to take a look at himself.

But winger Liam Marshall, likely to fill in at full back because of injuries, believes blocking out external noise is key, for him and the host of younger players being called upon.

The 25-year-old said: “If you believed and read everything in the newspaper or on Twitter and Instagram, you’d be worrying about something every day.

“There is always going to be talk but if you don’t see it or read it then it’s not something to worry about.

Adrian Lam is under pressure from some Wigan fans after three straight defeatsSWPIX.COM

“As a person, outside of rugby I don’t let things bother me. I’m pretty chilled and laid back. Someone can say something to me and I can forget it in five minutes.

“There’s a tendency to play a game and then jump on your phone. Everyone is a critic and everyone is a rugby pundit. You could sit there all night and read and it could cut you up, you could lose sleep over it.

“As a kid you could spend a lot of time thinking, ‘Am I good enough to be here? Am I in the right place?’ But you wouldn’t get there if you weren’t.

“There’s also a lot of white noise – they’re entitled to their opinion, fair enough, but it’s not always the right one and it shouldn’t affect you.”