1) Blake Austin
Wow, some performance, that. Probably Austin's best game for Warrington so far, he showed exactly why there was such a clamour around securing his signature. The stand off was absolutely brilliant in his offensive play, producing two moments of magic in particular. The first of which was a try he scored himself - his third of the season - sliding over the line with a touch of arrogance. In the second half he went on a glorious break following a tremendous dummy, before he set up Josh Charnley for a try in the corner. Also impressive in this game was Austin's creative kicking game, particularly on the fifth tackle when he usually opted to go high into the corner. I was pleased to see the passion and frustration he showed at the end of the game, he clearly wasn't happy with the second-half meltdown. What a talented player.
2) Mike Cooper
Mr. Consistent produced a splendid performance on Thursday. The prop forward made some excellent driving runs and got through a remarkable 119m with 14 carries of the ball. He also completed five successful offloads, including one which started the move for Austin's try. Cooper was instrumental in the team's organisation defensively, and it was telling that the Wakefield comeback began when he and Hill left the field.
3) Daryl Clark
Yet another great performance from Clark, though a slightly different display to his previous few. The hooker made just three runs from dummy half, as opposed to twelve, eleven and nine in the last three games. He grabbed another assist when Chris Hill crossed after his pass in the first half, too. Clark's importance to the team was exemplified when he was taken off with a quarter of the game left, with the game pretty much secured. Without Clark on the pitch, Wire struggled defensively and lost shape and confidence. Much like with Austin last week, we found out how important this player is to the team when he was off the pitch.
The best I've seen Atkins play in a long, long time. His performance in the centre was very good and was typified by a barnstorming run in the second half which led to a penalty. Despite only having six carries of the ball, Atkins made 93m in the match, including the aforementioned tackle burst. He was also impressive in a defensive sense, making some good tackles, particularly in the first half. Ideally, he will build on this performance and play himself into form.
5) Stefan Ratchford
An absolutely immaculate display of goal-kicking from Ratchford, the full back successfully kicking seven out of seven attempts at goal. This proved to be the deciding factor in the game, with Ratchford's perfect record rendering the fact that Wakefield scored one more try than Warrington irrelevant. His general performance level was good in an attacking sense but left a little to be desired defensively for two of Wakefield's tries, and made a shocking unexpected error late on which nearly ruined the whole night. Despite this error, his 100% kicking record means that he places highly in these rankings.
6) Josh Charnley
Two tries on the night for Josh Charnley mean that he is now the joint-top scorer in the league this season with seven tries. Both were excellent finishes in the corner and followed Charnley being on the end of a fast pass, one from Toby King and one from Blake Austin. Charnley's calmness in front of the tryline is admirable and is surely considered one of the best wingers in the league. As well as his scoring exploits, he did very well to get to David Fifita's kick in the final seconds of the game to preserve the victory.
7) Jason Clark
A player who is getting better and better every game at the minute. It seems like Steve Price thinks he is best suited to coming on from the bench, but if he continues putting these performances in it will be hard to leave him out of the starting 13 for much longer. Clark made 28 tackles on Thursday, a terrific number, including a few back-to-back tackles.
8) Declan Patton
Probably the most divisive player among fans at the minute, I was really impressed with Patton's game at Wakefield. He set up the first try with an inch-perfect kick, a skill which he is becoming very adept at, and should've had another assist after finding Jake Mamo with a lovely, sweeping pass out wide, before the Australian saw his try incorrectly ruled out. Defensively his game wasn't brilliant and he could've contributed more, but that was true of a few players. His yardage stats were low, though that's been the case for a few games. My main criticism of him is that he didn't take the option to go for a drop goal with the scores at 22-34.
9) Ben Murdoch-Masila
You don't get many more impactful subs than this fella. Making a massive 19 (nineteen) tackles after coming off the bench, with three particularly belting ones which left his opponent on the floor. Murdoch-Masila's incredible strength and physicality is just too much for so many players to handle and he is a phenomenal asset to the squad.
10) Toby King
I've been quietly very impressed with King in the last few games, ever since he moved back to centre after starting the season in the second row. King opened the scoring with a simple try after collecting Dec Patton's kick, before assisting the second, finding Charnley out wide. He was fairly solid in possession, but was found wanting defensively, particularly late in the game, where King was beaten by first Max Jowitt and then Joe Arundel in the space of two minutes for two Wakefield tries.
11) Chris Hill
The captain bagged his first try of the season with a powerful run from ten metres out that saw him reach the line and cross over, fighting off the challenge of two Wakefield defenders. This was Hill's most polished display of the season, one which didn't contain a single error. Making up 122m and 21 tackles is very good, too.
12) Jack Hughes
Another really solid performance from Hughes, who has been extremely consistent this season. The second rower is very comfortable with the ball and is developing the attacking side to his game, with an excellent break just before half time with led to a Warrington penalty. His carries were largely successful too, making 98m on the night.
13) Jake Mamo
Mamo was a really difficult player to rank in this game. The winger touched down twice but saw both of his tries ruled out by the video referee - both incorrect calls in my opinion, particularly the first one. If either of those tries are given then his stock rises again and his scoring streak continues. However, other elements of his game were disappointing, such as his knock on when he looked certain to score in the second half, and his very flimsy defending for Ryan Hampshire's try.
14) Ben Currie
Currie's third game of the season saw him far less involved in the attacking side of the game and instead was one of our best defensive players. The second rower made 32 tackles (higher than his other two games) and missed just one of them, a very impressive rate. As a result of this his attacking game was hampered but he still had time to register an assist, being the penultimate part of a delicious team move for Blake Austin's try.
There was definitely an improvement in Tasi's performance from the bench on Thursday, making a few decent runs as well as ten successful tackles, compared to just four last week. He looked a bit more aggressive with the ball too - this was his best showing since Huddersfield in game three.
16) Joe Philbin
Philbin was given his first start of the season at Wakefield, starting in the loose forward position. Despite producing some decent numbers, including an impressive 26 tackles, I felt a little disappointed with Philbin's performance in an attacking sense, as he didn't offer as much in terms of metres as I would've expected from Westwood or Jason Clark. I feel like Philbin is a player perhaps better suited to the interchange bench.
17) Danny Walker
Walker wasn't on the field for long, replacing Daryl Clark as Steve Price looked to give the number nine some respite after yet another full-on performance. Walker's third appearance for the Wire was a difficult one though, despite making 12 tackles, he also missed four and was one of a few players who were partly responsible for the Wakefield comeback late on.
So, there you are, my ratings from an insane match that will live long in the memory. Make sure to have a look at my report from the Wakefield game and keep checking the blog this week for the build-up to the Hull FC game, where I'll be selecting my desired matchday 17 for the big game at the KCOM Stadium.
It's always our year.
Daniel (@ALooseWire)
Great article; I was at this game and this is a good reflection of the night 👍
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