 Cullen says he is happy to have put pressure on himself |
Paul Cullen says his Warrington side will be under more pressure than ever this season - and that suits him fine. Cullen says he has deliberately raised fans' expectation of what the team can do, and he regards it as healthy.
"'Going to the next level' is a soundbite we've created for ourselves to put pressure on," he told BBC Sport.
"When I returned the buzzword was 'relegation'. Now it's 'top four' or 'final'. That's no accident, it's pressure of our own creation."
In his playing days, Cullen turned out for Warrington nearly 350 times before retiring in 1996.
After a spell coaching at Whitehaven, he returned to the club in 2002, since when they have finished sixth, eighth, fourth and sixth in Super League.
 | Players want to play with Adrian Morley, be around him and see how he does it. It's a priceless commodity |
Last season they reached the play-off elimination semi-final before injuries and inconsistency saw them lose to Bradford.
And Cullen says overcoming those two problems could see them move onwards and upwards.
"Three or four years ago we got into the top six by beating teams in the bottom half of the table," he said.
"Last season we beat Leeds, Wigan, Bradford and Hull twice each, but lost to Salford, Huddersfield and the Catalans, and in most of those games we were winning going into the last 10 minutes.
"We have to be more consistent and to try and stay healthy through our tough spots. We had a massive injury crisis last season and were in recovery for most of the season after that.
"Hopefully we can improve on that this year."
If you judge a team's ambition by its transfer policy, then the signing of Adrian Morley from Sydney Roosters certainly gives the message that Warrington are ready to launch a serious challenge this year.
 Morley will be hoping to lift the Super League trophy again |
"Adrian comes with a certain reputation, so one thing that gets overlooked is his ability to play football," said Cullen.
"Youngsters want to work with him to be as good as him, which is a massive plus all the way round.
"We saw that when we had the best player in the world, Andrew Johns, here. Adrian is in the same bracket.
"Players want to play with him, be around him and see how he does it. It's a priceless commodity.
"He brings a big game mentality, he knows you've got to be that good in every game and in training every week because that's how the best players do it."
Apart from a brief return to win a Grand Final ring with Bradford in 2005, former Leeds player Morley has been plying his trade in Australia for the last six years.
But he said it had not taken long to get into the swing of things at Warrington.
"Having the new stadium, it's quite a happening club," he told BBC Sport.
"I was impressed by the roster before I joined and now we've signed Vinnie Anderson and Paul Johnson, who are two current internationals, so we've certainly got the players.
"We hope this is the year we break the top few open."
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