the first round of the play-offs. However, they were unable to progress any further as they were beaten 40–24 by Bradford Bulls at Odsal Stadium. For the 2007 season, Warrington signed current Great Britain international Adrian Morley on a four-year deal from the Sydney Roosters NRL club, Paul Johnson, another Great Britain international, from Bradford Northern on a three-year deal and New Zealand international back rower or centre Vinnie Anderson, 27, on a three-year deal from St Helens, paying a £50k transfer fee. Warrington finished the 2007 season seventh in the table, which was seen as a disaster for the club following the impressive signings made during the close season. Finishing 7th resulted in Warrington missing out on the end of season playoffs for the first time in three years with local rivals Wigan pipping the Wire on the last weekend of the season. On 27 May 2008, Paul Cullen resigned from the coaching role at the club following a run of only one victory in seven league fixtures. James Lowes was appointed as the new head coach of the club and given a contract until the end of the 2010 season. The club went on to finish the season in sixth position in the table and securing a play-off tie away to Catalans Dragons. The Wolves lost 46–8 ending what was another season to forget for the club. Tony Smith era: 2009–2017 On 5 March, after losing all three of their opening games to the Super League XIV season, Warrington removed James Lowes from the position of head coach, and replaced him with then-England coach, Tony Smith who was also given the role of director of rugby. On 30 May 2009, Warrington reached the semi-finals of the Challenge Cup, beating Hull Kingston Rovers 24–25 via a drop goal from Lee Briers in golden point extra time to earn a place in the last four. The semi-final draw pitted the Wire against Wigan. On 8 August 2009, Warrington beat Wigan to reach Wembley for the first time in 19 years and despite only averaging crowds of 8,000 in recent seasons (2009 average attendance 8,155) they sold just over 34,500 tickets for the Challenge Cup final. Wolves faced the Huddersfield Giants in the final at Wembley Stadium in front of a 76,560 crowd. Warrington scored first after a charge down with Richie Mathers going over the line under the sticks. Warrington