Warrington recorded a first ever win at St James' Park, edging out bitter rivals Wigan Warriors to make sure of a victory at Magic Weekend.
Wire made a blinding start and were in front after less than a minute when Gareth Widdop's kick bounced nicely into the arms of Josh Thewlis, who raced away to score. Later in the first half, ex-Wigan man George Williams, making his first appearance against his former club, went through a gap to score, a try which Stefan Ratchford converted. Ethan Havard got Wigan on the scoresheet right on the stroke of half-time, but it was to be a scoreless second half, with the game finishing at 6-10 and Steve Price's team confirming a top 3 place. Here are my six talking points...
1) Magic Mike
It's time to once again pay tribute to one of the most underrated players in the competition, Mike Cooper. Another outstanding performance from the prop who worked exceptionally hard in an attritional game and helped change the dynamic upon re-entering the pitch in the second half. Today really showed how much we missed him on Monday. Chris Hill and Cooper have both been splendid all season, so reliable.
2) The wingmen
I thought both wingers had excellent games today. Josh Thewlis looks a real star at 19 and impresses nearly every time he takes the field. He's a calm, composed player who makes good decisions with the ball. Josh Charnley had a very good game too, contributing to some excellent Wire defence in the second half and carrying the ball well into the tackle on a number of occasions. I'm not really sure what our wing selections will look like in 2022, but I wouldn't bet against it been the two Joshes.
3) Half a chance
For me, the difference in the two sides today was the quality of the respective half-backs. It was a grubby, cat-and-mouse affair that was always likely to be low-scoring. The difference simply was that Widdop and Williams created more than Wigan's Jackson Hastings and Harry Smith did. The Williams/Widdop partnership seems to get better each game. Watching Hastings/Smith today reminded me of 2019 when Wire had one quality half in Blake Austin and one below-par one in Declan Patton. Much like Wire that year, they were using their full-back, Zak Hardaker, as their secondary attacking threat. It's amazing the difference a top quality six and seven make.
4) No Magic Man again
It might be Magic Weekend but there was once again no sign of Warrington's proclaimed 'Magic Man' Blake Austin. The Australian is fit and was involved in the open training session yesterday. The ex-Canberra player was sat near Price in the stadium so had travelled to the game, and I expected him to be selected, either on the bench, as he was at Wakefield, or starting at loose forward, where he made such a difference in that game. It does look like he's been frozen out and I wonder if we'll see him play for the club again. I'd like to think Matty Ashton will get a go in the team at some point as well, he can't seem to get a game at the minute.
5) No dummy
Danny Walker has really stepped up this year. A year ago, no Daryl Clark on the teamsheet would've been met with fear. While it still isn't ideal, the improvement Walker has made means that it's not quite the terrifying prospect it once was. The hooker did an admirable job today, distributing the ball really well, defending solidly and running from dummy-half at just the right moments. As some will know, I never really rated Walker but this year he's become a player that I have a lot of time for.
6) All eyes on the prize
So that's a top 3 spot confirmed, and in all likelihood, it will be 3rd place, unless St Helens lose their final two games at home to Leeds and away at Salford, which would be a surprise, to say the least. How should Wire approach their own final two games, at home to Salford and away to Castleford? There is an argument that mass changes should be made to rest people for the playoffs, and I would probably do this for the Castleford game, but I'd go full-strength for Salford, just in case Saints lose to Leeds. I also think that the more minutes Williams and Widdop can get together, the better. It's very likely to be 6th at home in the playoffs (currently Castleford, who Wire play away in the final league game), which, if we won, would be followed by Saints away.
Player Ratings
Stefan Ratchford - 6/10
Carried the ball more times than you'd normally expect and didn't really get involved in the offensive play. Unlucky to be penalised by the referee when Hastings smashed the ball out of his hands.
Josh Thewlis - 8/10
Really good performance. Scored the first try, tackled well, was positionally solid and was safe as houses under the high ball.
Toby King - 7/10
Worked really hard carrying the ball from his own line and kept trying to find gaps.
Jake Mamo - 7/10
Great effort from the centre, made a high number of carries and was always looking to make something happen.
Josh Charnley - 8/10
Best performance of the season from Charnley. Defensively excellent, forcing Sam Halsall into touch and took the ball well from his own line.
George Williams - 7/10
Lovely line for the try and a great celebration. Came up with one error at the play-the-ball. Ran a few nice lines without anyone on his shoulder.
Gareth Widdop - 8/10
Influential in both tries. His booming kick bounced well for Thewlis and a darting, mazy run set up the play for Williams' try. Kept causing problems with his kicking. Some of his tackling wasn't great.
Chris Hill - 9/10
A banging performance in the first half, making metre after metre and working hard to get the ball away too. I'd be keeping him next year.
Danny Walker - 8/10
Phenomenal work-rate. Never shies away from it. Distributed well and ran well with the ball in hand too. Incredible how much he's improved in the last twelve months.
Mike Cooper - 9/10
Cooper coming back onto the pitch in the second half swung the game in Wire's favour. He's a world-class prop. Never makes a mistake, runs good lines, makes loads of metres and always looks for the offload.
Ben Currie - 7/10
A pretty quiet game for Currie but carried the ball well the few times he did have it and didn't do anything wrong in defence.
Jack Hughes - 5/10
Wigan's only score started from a Hughes knock-on with the Warriors pinned on their line, he really should've finished off that three-on-two as well.
Joe Philbin - 7/10
Ran really well when he was on the pitch but unfortunately came off with an injury.
Robbie Mulhern - 7/10
Thought he ran really hard today.
Sitaleki Akauola - 6/10
Took the ball in better than usual and nearly got a try but gave away a needless penalty.
Ellis Longstaff - 7/10
Impresses me every time I see him. Maybe could've done better for the Havard try.
Jason Clark - 6/10
Came on at hooker, which surprised me somewhat.
@ALooseWire
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