It was a big home win for Warrington on Sunday, with a fifty-point demolition job of Huddersfield Giants, who started the game well and led 12-19 at half time. There were plenty of good performances on the day, but who were the stand outs? Here are my player rankings...
1 - Blake Austin
I mean, where do I even start with this? Two absolutely incredible tries that came down to outstanding bits of skill. The first try being the product of a tricky slaloming run which saw him waltz past five Giants players, while the second was completed after a moment of genius saw him move the ball from one hand to the other to free up space to score. He's an absolute delight to watch. 14 tries in 13 games - from halfback.
2 - Daryl Clark
Yet another masterful performance from Daryl Clark, who celebrated his new contract with a great display. Clark was everywhere, scoring a try of his own in the second half as well as having a hand in a few others too. As always, his tackling was very good and he was a key player to the second-half showing.
3 - Ben Currie
Currie scoring his first try since coming back from injury today is one of my favourite moments of the season. He worked really hard all game and put some good tackles in, as well as having a hand in Goodwin's second try. Impressive.
4 - Mike Cooper
Immense display from the prop forward today. Lots of good carries of the ball and outstanding tackling, too. His offloads continue to be a part of the Wire game, one of them today led up to Austin's first try. Great player.
5 - Bryson Goodwin
Criticise Goodwin all you want, but since coming back into the team he has scored four tries in three games. He played well today and both of his tries were good moments of opportunism. He also had some really good carries of the ball. When he's playing like this, it makes me sad that he's likely to leave at the end of the season.
6 - Chris Hill
A very good display from Hill today. His carries were really successful, making up a lot of metres, a strength of his game. His try was a scrappy one but it came at a key time - we needed to score while we were on top, especially given the Huddersfield onslaught that was about to occur.
7 - Toby King
King continued his good form with a solid performance here. He didn't see too much of the ball today but when he did he managed to make up plenty of ground, while his tackling off the ball was also very good.
8 - Joe Philbin
A very good impact from the bench from Philbin today. He is definitely better suited to coming on from the bench, he worked hard and helped prevent a few Huddersfield moves in the second half as we kept the Giants scoreless.
9 - Ben Murdoch-Masila
With Jack Hughes starting at loose forward, BMM started his second successive game at second row. He did a good job and played the majority of the game, too.to see him getting a try today. A few decent carries also.
10 - Stefan Ratchford
A near-perfect day from the kicking tee for Ratchford, nailing nine from ten, although there was one howler of a miss in there. Had some very good runs with the ball though still looks suspect with his catching - he fumbled two today that he got away with.
11 - Sitaleki Akauola
Credit to Akauola for forcing his way back into the team and performing well. He worked hard off the bench today with the ball, and with every week that passes, it looks more and more likely that he's going to have an increasingly significant part to play in 2019 at the Halliwell Jones.
12 - Matt Davis
Another fairly impressive cameo from Davis against Huddersfield. His work-rate and endeavour are always good and he looks to make things happen, particularly from dummy half.
13 - Jack Hughes
Hughes had a pretty quiet game, playing at loose forward for the first time this season. It will be interesting to see if this is something we continue with, or whether he returns to his more regular position in the second row.
14 - Tom Lineham
A largely quiet day for Lineham. He got the ball down for what looked like a try in the first half, though it was incorrectly ruled out for offside. He picked up a heavy knock early on and did well to carry on playing.
15 - Lama Tasi
A half-decent showing again from the bench. He's still not pulling up any trees, but his impact on the game is gradually increasing.
16 - Josh Charnley
Charnley barely saw any of the ball against Huddersfield, which was surprising. This is his lowest ranking of the season, though it is purely because of a lack of impact on the game rather than anything he did particularly badly.
17 - Declan Patton
This was a very difficult day for Patton. It was just error after error, notably a stupid dropped ball in the first half on the fifth tackle and two missed tackles which led to Huddersfield tries. He was a bit better in the second half and bagged himself a few assists, but the errors in his game are a real concern.
All in all, a good day for the Wire. Pretty much everyone put in decent displays, with a few real top performances. Next up for Steve Price's team is a tough assignment away at Castleford. This week on the blog I'll have an extra special build-up article, a combined Cas/Wire team - like I did for Saints/Wire. Keep an eye out for that as well as my usual Sweet 17 post.
It's always our year.
Daniel (@aloosewire)
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