Following a dramatic week for the Wire which has seen the team book their place in the Challenge Cup Final and the announcement of Ben Westwood's impending retirement, attention turns to Super League business as Warrington travel to France to take on Catalans Dragons in Round 24...
This week's team news sees the return to the 19-man-squad of full back Stefan Ratchford, who played his first game in nine weeks against Hull FC last Saturday, despite not being named in the 19. The injured Josh Charnley doesn't make it, though Sitaleki Akauola returns from suspension, with Lama Tasi dropping out of the 19. Kevin Brown, Ryan Atkins and Ben Westwood all remain injured.
Full Back - 1 Stefan Ratchford
Last week saw the return to action of Ratchford, and with it, the return of some cohesion in our attacking structure. This showed how key Ratchford is to the team and there is no doubt that he will keep his place for the last few games of the season.
Winger - 2 Tom Lineham
Lineham put in an atrocious performance last time we travelled to Perpignan, and was duly dropped for the next three games as a result. He's been in far better form since and was excellent defensively last week.
Centre - 3 Bryson Goodwin
We saw the best and the worst of Goodwin's game last week at Bolton, with a really good try in the corner, but this came moments after failing to pass out wide to his winger. Against a big pack who do well at home, timing and selection of passes is going to be important.
Centre - 18 Toby King
King responded well to his poor showing at Castleford with a superb all-round game in the semi-final. He is excellent under a high ball and despite my thoughts last week that he could perhaps be moved to the second row, he can stay at centre with performances like that one last week.
Winger - 22 Jake Mamo
Mamo did a very solid job out wide at Bolton, proving my thoughts that he is a far superior winger than full back. With less defending to do, he can focus on being an attacking threat and doing a good job until Josh Charnley returns.
Stand Off - 6 Blake Austin
Blake Austin put in a tremendous performance last week, completely dominating the game and controlling the tempo. His kicking game was absolutely top notch and if he can produce that again in Perpignan, we will win. I'd love to see him rediscover his tryscoring form.
Scrum Half - 15 Declan Patton
Patton has certainly improved lately, with a better contribution to the game. His decision-making is still too slow and this often catches him out, but he's getting better. If Kevin Brown returns before the end of the season, it will be interesting to see what Steve Price does at 7.
Prop - 8 Chris Hill
Hill has only missed two games all season, and there is no doubt over his selection here. Steve Price has gone strong with his squad, and the forwards will be key with Catalans having such a big pack.
Hooker - 9 Daryl Clark
Clark's incredible form continues every single week, so no doubt over his selection here, particularly with Danny Walker not being named in the squad, suggesting that Clark will likely play 80 minutes. He has scored in both games against Catalans this season, can he make it three from three?
Prop - 10 Mike Cooper
I feel like the early stages of this game particularly will be a battle of the forwards, and so the work of Hill and Cooper will be absolutely key, just like it was in the first part of the game last week. No doubts that we'll be playing our strongest pack.
Second Row - 11 Ben Currie
There have been really positive signs of Currie getting his form back in the last two matches, and he will almost certainly start in the back row here, as Warrington search for a crucial two points.
Second Row - 12 Jack Hughes
I've been very critical of Hughes this season, but he put in arguably his best display of the year in the semi-final. If he can produce that level of performance more consistently, he'll get back to his 2018 form. He'll surely play here.
Loose Forward - 14 Jason Clark
13 is always the hardest position to predict, with so many players being deployed there over the course of the season, but Jason Clark has started there the last two games. I was impressed with him for probably the first time in his Wire career last week, so I expect him to continue there.
Interchange - 17 Joe Philbin
It was really nice for Philbin to be the one to score the clinching try in the semi-final, such a hard-working and probably underappreciated player. His work off the bench is always very good and he'll be key to the second phase of the game when he comes on.
Interchange - 13 Ben Murdoch-Masila
I was really emotional seeing Murdoch-Masila in tears following the game last week. He made a big impact from the bench and hopefully he can do the same here.
Interchange - 19 Sitaleki Akauola
We have the return of Akauola this week, who has missed the last two games through suspension. His impact from the bench is good, particularly later in the game. A good option to have, and I expect him to return to the 17.
Interchange - 23 Matt Davis
I think Matt Davis is one of our most underrated players right now. He is a tackling machine and always impacts the game from the bench. For a budget forward, I think we've done really well.
That means that the two players from the 19 who miss out for me are Harvey Livett and Luther Burrell. I would like to see Livett (and Luis Johnson) get some gametime before the end of the season, but right now we have to play our strongest team, as we need to get some wins from our last six games to try and ensure 2nd place in the table. The same goes for Burrell, I'm not sure he's quite ready yet and this is a bit of a must-win game, so I don't think I'd be throwing him for only his second appearance.
This is likely to be a game that is dependent highly on the forwards. Catalans have a massive forward pack and can really dominate in that area, so hopefully Hill and Cooper can replicate their performances from the semi last week. When we played Catalans away in March, we were very poor, but only lost by a single point. A lot of the blame for this result was placed on the bizarre decision to travel to Perpignan at 4am on the day of the game, which likely influenced the jaded and error-prone performance. This time, we have travelled two days before the match, which will hopefully reap rewards. The Dragons are in a fight to make the top five and secure a playoff place, so there is a lot riding on it for them, though they are in very hit-and-miss form, losing last time out at Salford. Their home form is far better than their away form, and in Sam Tomkins and Tony Gigot they possess players who have the talent and quality to change any game in a flash. Fouad Yaha is also an excellent winger and the marking and defending of his flank will need to be good.
Elsewhere this week, the Thursday game saw Hull FC lose by just a point to Wigan, which moves Wigan to just two points behind Hull, and just four behind ourselves, though FC's loss gives us the chance to extend our grip on 2nd place with a win on Saturday. There is a relegation battle as Huddersfield host Leeds in a huge game, while runaway leaders and Challenge Cup Final opponents St Helens host the struggling Wakefield on Friday. Top five hopefuls Salford travel to London in a big game at both ends of the table, while Castleford play Hull KR in another game that will have a big impact on both the top five race, and the relegation scrap.
I'm hoping that we can carry the team spirit and commitment from last week's game into this one. This is a very important match. Our six remaining games are Catalans away, St Helens at home, Wigan and Salford away, Wakefield at home and Leeds away. With Hull FC just two points behind us, we are likely to need at the very least three wins to secure 2nd place, which is very handy when it comes to the playoffs. Come on Wire, big away win needed.
It's always our year.
Daniel (@aloosewire)
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