1 - Daryl Clark
Mother of Lord, what a performance. 53 tackles (fifty three), the man was absolutely everywhere. With Austin having a rare off-game, Clark was the most creative player, making two tackle busts and eight runs from dummy half. An absolute powerhouse. For me, the most consistently outstanding player in Super League.
2 - Jake Mamo
Okay so Mamo came up with an error which gave Saints their second try, but that error was forced out of him by wonderful play from Jonny Lomax. Apart from that, Mamo was exemplary. He made up 200 metres from 19 carries, was very comfortable under the high ball and scored a great try with a nice little skip past Grace. Very, very good game.
3 - Josh Charnley
Charnley's defence was brilliant, forcing Regan Grace into touch twice and being ultra reliable down his flank. It's rare to have a winger that is so good in both defence and attack but in Charnley we have exactly that. Could've done better for Percival's try.
Set the tone early on with a huge hit on Aaron Smith that unfortunately left Smith injured. This was his first start of the season and he got through a lot of work, I expect he'll be starting at loose forward again next week in London.
5 - Chris Hill
Had a wonderful first half with some great driving runs which rolled back the years. A very good tackling rate for Hill as well, though was a bit careless in the second half conceding a penalty on Percival which he is likely to pick up a ban for.
6 - Tom Lineham
Great defence from Lineham against Saints, with massive hits on Lachlan Coote and Tommy Makinson. We didn't really utilise his flank when attacking, but he put in one hell of a shift going the other way.
7 - Toby King
A really sound defensive performance from the centre, with an outstanding recovery tackle on Lomax the highlight. Did well under the high attacking kick, winning a few, though they didn't end up in the right hands often enough.
8 - Mike Cooper
Cooper got through a lot of work, completing 35 tackles, though missed seven, which is a bit disappointing and unlike him. He also didn't see as much of the ball as he usually does, only having seven carries. Once again, Saints' props Walmsley and Thompson far outran Hill and Cooper.
9 - Bryson Goodwin
Started the game really well, with a brilliant break, and finished the game with six tackle busts, and two offloads. Was less influential as the game went on but it was a largely good performance.
10 - Ben Currie
37 tackles is a solid return, missing four. Perhaps could've done better for Alex Walmsley's try, but it was a largely good display from the second rower, who saw a fair bit of the ball too, with ten carries.
11 - Blake Austin
Probably Austin's quietest game for Wire so far, largely thanks to an excellent marshalling job from Theo Fages. Made one brilliant break in the first-half, skipping past Peyroux in style. Shocking tackle attempt for Percival's try, though the pass from Fages was stupendously forward.
12 - Matt Davis
Weak tackle attempt for Lomax's break which led to Percival's try, but other than that had a good impact when he came on, which is more than can be said for the rest of the bench.
I questioned what it is that Jason Clark actually does last night and got a fair bit of stick. He made some decent tackles but gave away a soft penalty.
14 - Joe Philbin
Philbin is usually so reliable but knocked on right at the start of the set just after we'd scored. Don't know if I've ever been so angry at an error from one of our players.
15 - Jack Hughes
Excellent tackle on Coote early on, but let his side down badly with the sin binning in the second-half. Not good enough from a co-captain.
16 - Declan Patton
Kicked the three goals successfully, and I don't blame him personally for us taking the two points, even though I don't think it was the right decision on the second and third occasions. What I do blame him for is an appalling kick on the second tackle when we had four tackles left in the bag, late in the game. I also blame him for two terrible last plays in the first-half which led to Saints breaks. I also blame him for missing a p**s-easy conversion which would've made the difference just one point. These words would've been sacrilege to me in 2017 and 18, but Kevin Brown can't return soon enough.
17 - Lama Tasi
I mean, what actually is the point in this signing? A pathetic attempt to tackle Lomax in the build-up to the Percival try is all I can recall him doing. If you're ranking lower than that Patton performance, you know it's been a bad night.
Game management, discipline and disgraceful officiating cost us that game. Most of the players played really well and put everything into that. I'm proud of the team performance and we can take plenty of heart and hope from it. We need a better half back, and we need far more impact from the bench, and less penalties. But, we were MILES better than we were against Saints in April.
It's always our year.
Daniel (@aloosewire)
Kev brown not yr clutching at straw s Austin was not factor all match tasi waste of space agreed Clark no 1
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