Warrington finished their Super League season with a 24-40 win away at Castleford to end the home side's hopes of a playoff place and make it three wins in a row.
Wire made a breathtaking start and scored two beautiful long-distance tries through Matty Ashton and Jake Mamo, and Ashton struck again when a Gareth Widdop kick bounced awkwardly. Mamo bagged his second when he latched onto a loose ball and raced free. Four Stefan Ratchford conversions and a penalty gave Wire a seemingly unassailable 0-26 lead at half-time. Ashton made sure of his hat-trick after a superb Robbie Mulhern run, before an onslaught of Castleford tries, led by soon-to-be-Wire Peter Mata'utia, meant that suddenly there was a game on at 24-32, after Josh Charnley had been sin-binned and Mike Cooper sent off. Fortunately, Ratchford kicked another penalty goal and Connor Wrench scored a neat try late on to round off the evening. Here are my six talking points...
1) Bronze medal
So there we have it, Warrington's Super League season has finished. The Wire came home in a comfortable 3rd place, picking up fifteen wins and one draw, losing just five times across 2021. It's a very respectable points tally and while it wasn't enough to make a top two spot, it's been one of Wire's more consistent seasons of recent years.
2) Number one?
Matty Ashton suffered against Salford last week but was excellent tonight. The full-back scored a brilliant hat-trick, unleashing his pace through the middle and showing good support play from the first and third tries, as well as good awareness to collect the ball for his second try. His work tonight makes it tough to leave him out for the playoffs, though it's more likely to be from the bench than the start.
3) Forward passes
The first half was a delight to watch; Warrington threw the ball around really well and gave it lots of air. The two half-backs, Widdop and George Williams, were contributing to creative play and it was refreshing to see the big forwards all get in on the act, passing the ball nicely. Cooper played a delicious pass for the first try, Chris Hill made a break and found a ball for the second and Joe Philbin showed a good pair of hands at one stage too.
4) First-half team?
For the fourth game in a row, Wire have struggled to match the quality of their first-half performance in the second 40 minutes. Whether this is down to fitness, tactics, motivation or intensity, it is not ideal and something that needs addressing ahead of next week, as 80-minute-performances are going to be needed if Wire have Old Trafford aspirations.
5) Risky selection
I was amazed that Steve Price selected a full-strength squad for this game (barring the injured Daryl Clark, Danny Walker and Toby King). For me, this was a huge risk in a game that was meaningless - why risk any injuries or suspensions the week before the playoffs? Josh Charnley and Mike Cooper were sin-binned and red-carded respectively, so fingers crossed the disciplinary panel look down on Cooper sympathetically for what was a harsh red card, as he is by far our most important forward - looked what happened against Saints without him.
6) Eight days to go...
So, that's the pre-amble over with. Now the big stuff starts next week. We still don't know whether our opponents will be Hull KR or Leeds but what we do know is that Matt Davis will miss the entire playoff series through injury, while King, Clark and Walker should be fine to return to the team. With this in mind, I'd like to see a lineup of Ratchford; Thewlis, King, Mamo, Charnley; Williams, Widdop; Hill, Clark, Cooper; Currie, Hughes; Philbin. Mulhern, Clark, Longstaff, Ashton. This would be harsh on Danny Walker who has done nothing wrong, but Ratchford can spell Clark with Ashton replacing Ratchford at 1. Blake Austin for me hasn't done enough to get a place in the side, I don't expect to see Tom Lineham or Sitaleki Akauola back in, and the likes of Connor Wrench are unlikely to be involved.
Player Ratings
Matty Ashton - 9/10
Just brilliant. Three tries and was a constant attacking threat with his pace and arriving in dangerous areas.
Josh Thewlis - 6/10
Even in a game where he didn't have much to do, he did it well and was solid defensively.
Connor Wrench - 7/10
Never really been too keen but thought he did superbly tonight both in defence and attack, and deserved his try.
Jake Mamo - 8/10
Not actually his most busy game but still came up with two tries, unleashing his pace for the second.
Josh Charnley - 5/10
Annoyingly, it was his sin-binning that accelerated Castleford's scoring spree.
George Williams - 7/10
In and out of the game but thought he managed the final part of the game superbly.
Gareth Widdop - 6/10
Spiralling kick which set up Ashton's second try but other than that, quiet in attack. Busy in defence.
Chris Hill - 8/10
Marvellous run to aid the first Mamo try and a big, big early stint. Banging pass for the first try too.
Stefan Ratchford - 7/10
Yes to Ratchford at hooker. Worked really hard and could do a job there going to 9 with Ashton on the bench to fill at 1.
Mike Cooper - 7/10
Brilliant fast pass in the build-up to the first try and was outstanding in the first half. Very harsh red card.
Ben Currie - 7/10
Excellent contribution for the Mamo try and worked hard defensively.
Jack Hughes - 6/10
Silent for most of the game.
Joe Philbin - 7/10
Tough runs in the early part of the game and another one who was passing the ball nicely.
Robbie Mulhern - 8/10
Impressive. Hell of a run to aid the final Ashton try and worked hard all night.
Jason Clark - 5/10
Erm, what did he do? Oh yeah, give away a penalty that sparked the Cas comeback.
Blake Austin - 4/10
Even forgetting the poor tackle attempt for the Turner try, had a terrible stint from the bench.
@ALooseWire
No comments:
Post a Comment