Warrington made it four wins in a row in Super League courtesy of a marvellous drop-goal from Blake Austin late on after a tight match with Huddersfield Giants.
The returning Ben Murdoch-Masila was sin-binned for a high tackle which left Matty English injured after just three minutes. Wire took the lead through a Stefan Ratchford penalty, although it was the Giants who scored the first try of the match. Gareth Widdop kicked through for Ben Currie to score, before Huddersfield hit back before the break. Widdop got a try of his own early into the second half but Simon Woolford's team once again got themselves back in it. Tom Lineham's seventh try of 2020 came after a stunning move involving Widdop and King, and though the Yorkshiremen were level with a late try, Blake Austin's long-range drop-goal with four minutes left did the trick. Here are my six major talking points...
1) Drop off or drop-goal?
This was Blake Austin's third drop-goal of the season, and the second time he has been the match-winner because of it, after the Castleford game in March. Austin had a terrible game, making errors offensively and proving to be too soft defensively, as well as getting his first sin-bin in England. However, when it mattered, he came up with two crucial plays. Tom Lineham's try started with Austin cleaning up at the start of the move and freeing Widdop. Then, when the team really needed it, he pulled off a tremendous drop-goal from distance to win the match and secure two points. He isn't playing well but he does seem to be able to produce in the big moments, even when he's had a poor day.
2) A real Coop
Arguably Wire's player of the season has been Mike Cooper. Incredibly consistent in the forward pack and hardly ever makes a mistake. Tonight he put in another fabulous showing, as solid as ever and with some absolutely monster carries. He's just as good defensively too. Make no mistake, Mike Cooper is a huge part of this team and in his 224th appearance for the club, he showed why he is up there with Alex Walmsley and Liam Watts as the best props in the country.
3) The magnificent seven
Once again, I found myself very impressed with Gareth Widdop in this match. Some have been questioning his influence, but for me it is subtle yet significant. He was heavily involved in all three tries tonight, assisting Ben Currie's with a perfect kick on the fifth play, scoring his own with a composed step and then freeing Toby King for Lineham's try. As well as this he was very good in defence and is getting better and better at the minute.
4) The golden boot?
Tom Lineham bagged his seventh try of the season tonight (it looks like tries against Toronto are still counting) and he is scoring at a golden boot rate at the minute. Last season it was Josh Charnley who was the go-to-man to finish attacks off out wide, but Lineham keeps chiming into the line at the right time to receive the ball and finish. His partnership with Toby King is getting better and better. It is excellent to see Lineham scoring with such regularity and consistency.
5) Still a bit clunky
It is hard to feel too ecstatic about that performance, as despite grinding out a win, the lack of confidence, cohesion and fluency with which Wire attacked has disappointed some. Once again it looked like there was a lack of ideas in front of the opposition line and instead the team relied on moments of inspiration or off-the-cuff breakaways. The attack still hasn't properly clicked yet, although we are scoring more points now than at any stage of the season.
6) The centre of attention
It was a bit of a surprise to most to see Jake Mamo brought in to play at centre for this match. The Australian had an okay game against his former team, coming up with one great moment to earn a repeat set of six. He did make a couple of errors though, in defence and attack. The other centre, Toby King, had another impressive match, barring for the McGillvary try, in both defence and attack.
Player Ratings
Stefan Ratchford - 7/10
Not as good as his performance last week, but solid enough, barring a poor miss at a conversion.
Tom Lineham - 8/10
Another try for Lineham and a largely good all-round performance.
Toby King - 9/10
Very impressive again from King in both parts of the pitch.
Jake Mamo - 7/10
Not bad at all for a first hit out in six months. Couple of errors but some good moments too.
Josh Charnley - 9/10
Outstanding metre-making carries at the start of sets and rock-solid defensively.
Blake Austin - 6/10
Truly horrific until the final stages when he came up with two vital plays.
Gareth Widdop - 9/10
All three tries were either started or finished by Widdop. Imperious in defence too.
Chris Hill - 7/10
Plenty of yardage and discipline from Hill tonight.
Daryl Clark - 7/10
Good distribution and metre-making from the magic man.
Mike Cooper - 9/10
Tremendous prop forward performance. He was magnificent.
Ben Currie - 8/10
First try of 2020 and pretty good in all areas of the field.
Ben Murdoch-Masila - 5/10
Sin-binned, perhaps harshly, but had no impact on the match.
Jack Hughes - 8/10
A change of position for Hughes but he was very good, didn't put a foot wrong.
Jason Clark - 6/10
On the interchange bench and struggled to have any positive carries.
Joe Philbin - 7/10
Provided plenty of go-forward and energy, as always.
Sitaleki Akauola - 5/10
Bombed a great chance for a try and made very little ground.
Danny Walker - 5/10
Couple of poor pieces of distribution.
Daniel (@aloosewire)
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