Report: Warrington 34-4 Catalans

It was a very happy Saturday afternoon for Warrington Wolves as they dispatched Catalans Dragons with a very impressive and controlled performance at a rain-soaked Halliwell Jones Stadium.
With the bans of Jake Mamo and Tom Lineham kicking in this week, as well as the continued absence of Stefan Ratchford, Steve Price gave a chance to two youngsters: Jack Johnson started on the wing, as he did away at Castleford, while there was a debut for 17-year old Josh Thewlis, starting at full back. A boy born in 2002 starting at full back for the side 2nd in Super League. Lord, I feel old.

It was a cagey opening to the game with a few penalties and a few handling errors from either side, and it took 17 minutes for the first score of the afternoon to come. Michael McIlorum was well held by Ben Currie and Mike Cooper, though Tony Gigot boomed a pass out wide to Fouad Yaha, who despite Josh Charnley's best efforts to send him into touch, was adjudged by the video referee to have scored legally in the corner. Fortunately, former Wigan reprobate and all-round disgrace Sam Tomkins missed the conversion, and to give Tomkins his due credit, opted to not turn up for the remainder of the match. Respect.

It took Wire until the half hour mark to get on the scoreboard, but it was well worth the wait. Daryl Clark collected the ball from dummy half after a strong carry from Bryson Goodwin, and scampered through a gap from 30 metres out before racing to the line and touching down under the sticks, right in front of the East Stand to score a sensational seventh try of the season. Declan Patton had no trouble with the easy conversion to give Wire a 6-4 lead, a lead which was extended just a minute and a half before the break, and Clark was once again at the centre of it. The former Castleford hooker picked the ball up from dummy half after a carry from the industrious Matt Davis, and sent a lovely wrap-around pass to Blake Austin, who ran 20 metres to score, giving Gigot a nice little hand-off on the way to his seventeenth try in just nineteen games for the season. Another easy conversion for Patton meant the scores were 12-4 at half time.

Just four minutes into the second half, Patton added an extra two points when Wire were awarded a penalty for a ball steal from Sam Kasiano. Patton opted to take the two and slotted the straight kick over from 30 metres out to take the lead to 14-4. The next period of the half was scoreless but the Wire had a few chances, the best of which falling to Toby King after he collected a brilliant high boot from Austin, but the centre couldn't get his pass away to Charnley. Goodwin and Johnson put on a superb exhibition of defence when they dragged David Mead into touch, before a great passage of play from right to left looked to have got Charnley over in the corner, but the winger was held up. Nonetheless, Steve Price's team would score from the very next play, this time moving in the opposite direction, with a neat cut-out pass from Patton finding Goodwin, who raced 20 metres and crashed over for his sixth of the season. Patton, who had a very good game, kicked his fourth goal of the day for a 20-4 lead.

The next try came just four minutes later, and the platform for it was set by an outstanding show of defence from Austin and Charnley, who did brilliantly to drag Samisoni Langi into touch. This gave Wire possession in sight of the try line. Ben Murdoch-Masila was stopped just short of scoring, but Catalans could not stop Sitaleki Akauola, who was superb from the bench, as he somehow managed to get the ball down despite the close attentions of four defenders from the Dragons. It was another simple enough conversion for Patton, for a 26-4 lead. The final try of the day came from a delightful show-and-go move from Austin, who then found Charnley out wide. Charnley elected to chip and chase, and despite looking like he wouldn't make it, was the first man to touch the ball down, and bag his first try since late April. Patton converted a sixth goal for 32-4, and then nailed a penalty in the final minute to secure a 34-4 victory.

This was a highly professional performance from Warrington against a side that we have lost our last two meetings with, including last year's Challenge Cup Final. Defensively, this was easily the best performance of the season by a mile, with only four points conceded and none from the 17th minute onwards. It was a performance full of grit, fight and will, and it was a game which turned on moments of quality from the usual suspects of Clark and Austin - two of Super League's few genuinely world-class players. This was also Patton and Goodwin's best games of the year, while in the forward pack Mike Cooper, Matt Davis and Sitaleki Akauola put in monster shifts. It was a largely assured debut for Josh Thewlis too, who received a lovely ovation when he took to the pitch, and when he was subbed off towards the end. Excellent performance. Next up for us is a third trip to Hull KR in the last nine weeks, in what feels like the far-less-entertaining sequel to Groundhog Day. Fun fact - as of next Saturday, we'll have played just one less game at Craven Park than we have at the Halliwell Jones in a run of nine games. Sound.

Make sure to check out my player rankings from a thoroughly enjoyable (if wet) afternoon at the HJ!

It's always our year.

Daniel (@aloosewire)