Warrington responded to their first defeat of the season at Catalans with a superb victory over league leaders Castleford Tigers, by a convincing scoreline of 24-10. Here is my report from a great win...
Steve Price surprised us all by making two changes to the starting thirteen - which included a shock return to the side for second-rower Ben Currie, who made his first appearance in 321 days - while Ben Westwood returned to the bench after his two-game suspension. Jake Mamo made his first start in Warrington colours and played on the wing, while Toby King moved to the centre, as Tom Lineham and Ryan Atkins dropped out of the squad.
Despite the surprises in the team selection, the most spectacular moment of pre-match was yet to come. The Halliwell Jones crowd were part of Europe's first ever Human Video Board - a highly entertaining and aesthetically wonderful light show. Huge credit to the club for trying something new - and an inspired selection of accompanying music - Kanye West's 'all of the lights'.
Wire found themselves behind early on after a try from Tigers winger Greg Eden, but the Halliwell Jones crowd were brought to their feet by an equalising try out wide from debutant Mamo after collecting an accurate pass from Declan Patton. Despite Stefan Ratchford missing the kick, Warrington would soon find themselves ahead as a lovely Ratchford ball found Mamo in the wide area for the ex-Huddersfield man to score again, a try that this time Ratchford managed to convert. Warrington's third try came just before half time, with a Blake Austin kick finding Mamo, and the utility back continued his sensational debut by finding Jack Hughes, who brilliantly feigned to pass before scoring himself. A superb conversion from Ratchford meant that the home side were 16-4 in front at the interval.
Ben Murdoch-Masila used brute force to score an excellent try in the second half, before a simple Ratchford conversion and penalty all but ensured that the two points would be staying in Cheshire. Castleford briefly threatened a comeback with a try through Greg Minikin after some untidy defending from Warrington, but it was only a minor blemish on a thoroughly satisfying evening for Steve Price and his side, who are now level on points with the Tigers.
Next up for Warrington is a massive clash with arch-rivals Wigan Warriors at the Halliwell Jones next Friday. As well as being a rematch of last year's Grand Final, this will be another chance for the Wire to lay down a marker and a statement of intent to the rest of the league, as we did against Castleford tonight. What an atmosphere it should be at the HJ next Friday.
Make sure to check the blog through the week for a Sweet 17 article, where I'll select the team I would like to play the Wigan fixture.
It's always our year.
Daniel (@aloosewire)
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