After a brilliant 34-4 win at home over the Catalans Dragons, it's time for me to rank all 17 players on their performances from the day. Here goes...
1) Daryl Clark
Once again, Daryl Clark is top of the rankings list. Just HOW can he be SO good EVERY single week? When Wire were struggling to get going, it was a piece of individual brilliance from Clark that got the team going, and he then set up Austin and Akauola for their own tries. He also averaged 11 metres from every carry. What a bloody player.
2) Bryson Goodwin
This was easily Goodwin's best performance of the season. It was his strong carry that facilitated Clark's try, and he was brilliant in defence, particularly in the second half. I was really pleased to see him score a try of his own, because his performance deserved it. I'm going to miss him next year.
3) Blake Austin
Austin was actually struggling a little in the first half, until a brilliant trademark try just before half time. He was immense in the second half, with a phenomenal moment of defence with Josh Charnley, and a tidy show-and-go in the run up to Charnley's try.
4) Declan Patton
I was impressed with Patton, this was probably his best game of the season. Some nice passes and a good defensive shift, as well as a 100% record from the kicking tee. Definite signs of improvement.
5) Sitaleki Akauola
What a beast this man is lately! He came onto the pitch and didn't miss a single tackle, a big return defensively. He also made seven tackle busts, a sensational stat for a relatively short period on the pitch. A great try too, no idea how he managed to get that down.
6) Matt Davis
Another massive performance from the bench from Matt Davis, who is really coming into his own lately. Davis was everywhere in his stint on the field, being very successful in the tackle and showing wonderful work-rate.
7) Mike Cooper
Cooper is hugely consistent and against a team with such a big forward pack, the performances of our own big men was always going to be crucial to any chance of a result. Cooper was imperious and made 28 tackles without missing a single one.
8) Ben Currie
25 tackles for Currie without missing a single one. He was everywhere early on in the game, and though he faded a little late on, was very good overall.
9) Jason Clark
This was probably the most I've been impressed with Clark all season. The Australian was heavily involved when he came on, completing 22 tackles and making four tackle busts. But for a handling error in the second half, this was a solid display.
10) Josh Charnley
Charnley finally got over the tryline to end his scoring drought, managing to get on the end of his own kick late on. Defensively he was largely solid, though maybe could've done better with Yaha's try.
11) Josh Thewlis
This was a very assured debut for the 17-year old, who saw plenty of the ball and was good with it, even when on the receiving end of some big hits from the Catalans pack. He dropped two high balls, though one was after being tackled in the air. Plenty of positive signs on debut.
12) Ben Murdoch-Masila
Best he's looked in a while. Worked hard and was good both defensively and offensively. It was his strong carry that preceded Akauola's try.
13) Toby King
It was a bit of a quieter game from King today. He was solid defensively, though going forward missed a few chances to pass to Charnley. His highlight was his good catch of Austin's high kick.
14) Chris Hill
Hill didn't actually see tonnes of gametime in this one, he started the game reasonably well and helped set the platform, but it wasn't until Jason Clark and Akauola came on that the forward pack took control.
15) Joe Philbin
Started the game well and as always had a good work ethic. It's interesting seeing what Price is doing with Philbin at the minute, using him from the start before bringing the interchanges on, when previously it had been the other way around.
16) Jack Hughes
This is a low ranking for Hughes though it isn't because his performance was poor, more that he was just one of the less impressive performers. 27 tackles is a good figure, but he also missed three.
17) Jack Johnson
Johnson was okay, but he got rinsed by Lewis Tierney in the second half, and unnecessarily found himself in touch at one point. Will be interesting to see if he keeps his place next week.
Make sure you check out my match report and let me know your thoughts on these rankings.
It's always our year.
Daniel (@aloosewire)
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