captain and scrum-half, Allan Langer came out of retirement to play in Super League for Warrington Wolves. He captained the side and took them to within one match of the Challenge Cup final in 2000. Steve Anderson succeeded van der Velde in August 2001, he was replaced by his assistant David Plange mid-season following a run of 11 defeats which threatened Warrington's record of continuous top level rugby. Paul Cullen was appointed head coach in 2002, becoming the third coach of the season. Cullen not only achieved survival but also led Wolves to a first ever play-off appearance since the reintroduction of this format in 1998. Move to Halliwell Jones Stadium: 2004–2009 Warrington's first season in the Halliwell Jones Stadium saw slight underachievement on the pitch reflected in their finishing position of eighth in Super League, though they did make the Challenge Cup semi-finals. However, they recorded a significant increase in their average attendances and midway through the season the club was purchased by events promoter Simon Moran. Moran immediately released fresh investment into the club, enabling coach Paul Cullen to sign Great Britain centre Martin Gleeson for a club record fee reported in the region of £200,000 as well as New Zealand internationals Henry Fa'afili and Logan Swann. Their best season in Super League has been the 2005 season (Super League X), where they finished in 4th place and earned a home tie in the playoffs. Australian Andrew Johns played 3 games for the club when his Australian club Newcastle concluded their season. He is rumoured to have been paid around £40,000 (A$100,000) per match for the Wire. The signing caused controversy for a number of reasons: if the Wire had made the Super League Grand Final, it would have clashed with the Kangaroos Tri-Nations test against New Zealand in Sydney, Australia; also, many people questioned why Warrington were allowed to bring in a player in time for the Super League play-offs after he had finished playing a full season in Australia. The signing and subsequent confusion over the rules led other Super League clubs to follow the example set by the Wire and signed their own Antipodean players on short-term contracts. On 22 September 2006, Warrington beat Leeds 18–17 at Headingley to progress to the second round of the Super League play-offs. This was the first time during the Super League era that the Wire had progressed past