Super League Round 23- Warrington v Bradford Review

People wondered whether Bradford could pull off the mere impossible and beat second in the league Warrington. The answer – no. With Bulls only marking 6 on the scoreboard, Warrington were allowed to run rings around the visitors defence and racked up 64 points.
So who were those all-important scorers who created such a wide score line?

Warrington (26) 64
Tries: Atkins (4), King (2), Hodgson (2), J Monaghan (3), M Monaghan
Goals: Hodgson (5), Bridge (3)

Bradford (0) 6
Tries: Ah Van
Goals: Ah Van

Warrington managed to slide over for 12 tries crushing Bradford, who managed to score the final try, at the Halliwell Jones. It never started well from Bradford after the kick off went out on the full handing Warrington important ‘cheap’ metres from the first minute. Ryan Atkins broke the ice with a try in only the second minute of the game. It seemed like Bradford would be defending for most of the game but actually they did have their chances throughout the game and Wolves were left scrambling on the line but still didn’t let them over the whitewash until the final minutes of the game. So, after Atkins had made it over for the first try of the game he managed to knock up 3 more tries for his first four tries haul of his Warrington career. Wolves showed no mercy with a double from Matt King, a couple from Hodgson a try from Michael Monaghan and a hat trick by Brother Joel Monaghan. This broke into Joel’s best try scoring set beating his previous best of 21 tries for Canberra back in 2003. Ah Van finished the scoring of the game taking Bradford from nil which will maybe have disappointed Warrington but at least it gave the away fans something to sing about.

So who really stood out for the winners today?

Brett Hodgson – absolutely brilliant from the first minute he ended the fray to the end. After getting a hard knock in the opening stages he still managed to get his hands on 18 points. Brett seemed to pick up many knocks along the way but he put in an amazing performance after he was clearly not impressed with the way he played last week. Well-deserved man of the match after leaving the field after 62 minutes receiving a standing ovation.

Richie Myler – a lot of people doubt the talent and potential of the 21 year old scrum half but he proved all of those doubters wrong today. Briers who? Myler managed to organise the team perfectly and everyone seemed to know what to do and when to do it. I always knew he had it in him but I was just waiting for it to come out. His defence is stand out for me which you don’t get for a lot of people playing that role. His technique is good and he always seems to pop up at the right moment.

Simon Grix – he is a real unsung hero at Warrington. Forever unnoticed but always there doing the work week in week out without fail. Previous years he had missed the end of seasons through illness and injury so it is really nice to see him at his best at the business end of the season. He is a lot more dangerous than opponents would expect but he is key to the way Warrington play.

It’s so difficult to pick out of them because again Chris Bridge, Matt King, Ryan Atkins all stand out performers and I could easily write what everyone did right but it’d take a long time and you’d probably get bored reading it.
So that was another round gone and the end of the season nears, who will finish top? Who will make it to Old Trafford?

Criminals of Crusaders: All set for nothing

So Crusaders look finished for but did it actually ever begin?
It looks like the Welsh team were kidding everyone from the first moment it all started. So it seems right that Wakefield keep there place and the criminals of Crusaders are sent to an empty pit.
With blazing views spreading across twitter from Crusaders players, ex-crusaders, crusaders of the future, players in general and the fans of the great game.
Keith Senior started the ranting using a very explicit choice of language but who can blame him with the way he and other rugby players have been treated. Matt Bryant was first to release the shambles of the welsh. So was it plummeting from the minute the club began:
- The players were made to pay their own may for the Magic Weekend in Scotland in 2009.
- For France 2009 they had to leave 6 players behind due to illegal visas which the club were plainly aware of.
- These 6 were then treated like criminals and the club played innocent whilst the players were deported.
- The owner was then to pay them with 'hush money' but then ditched them once they had been removed from the country.
- The players were led to believe keeping quiet was in the best interest - but the owners were not thinking about the future of this club at all.
- It is also believed wages were sacrifised with administration.

Believe what you wish but by this Crusaders seemed to be forever doomed. It is better they are gone, they have brought a bad name to the British game.

Challenge Cup Quarters- Warrington v Wigan Review

I'm not going to get annoyed with the game on here but if I do please excuse me. I will start by complementing the Wigan fans for being in good voice and I am ashamed of the warrington fans that left before the end of the match. I know it wasn't long before the end but leaving early isn't right and the lads don't deserve it. People seem to have short memories of a few years back when it was lose regularly and get beat by lower teams but still stay. The glory supporters need to decide whether they are to stay or go, you can't pick and choose what suits. Anyway now that's over onto the game itself.

The game started with good pressure by Warrington but they quickly let it go without any points on the board, this gave Wigan an opportunity and being the side they are the 2010 league champions soon converted their pressure into points. It was soon 22-0 after tries from Hansen, Coley, Tomkins and Richards and the match looked like it was heading for a heavy beating. Luckily Warrington hit back and made it 22-16 by half time with tries from two tries from Richie Myler and a try from matt king to lessen the embarrassment.
The second half started positive for the wolves with a try from David Solomona however it again switched back to wigan's attack. Warrington's return to wembley was shot down with a brace from Charnley and tries from Richards and O’Loughlin to finally finish off the scoring. The game ended with a scoreline of 24-44, a larger scoreline than most predicted. 

My stand out performers were:
Warrington - Matt King tirelessly working down the wing, but even more impressive Mike Cooper who kept going and going when everyone was down but unfortunately it wasn't good enough and you could tell wolves were missing Morley in the forwards.
Wigan - Josh Charnley was really good for me, he was great both in attack and defence earning himself 2 tries. 
There is a lot of good, young talent in England at the moment some of which was on show in this game. 

I believe the better team won by far and you could tell Warrington were missing the guidance and spark Lee Briers brings to the side on a regular basis. Also after Solomona going off injured the forwards began to struggle having to play long amounts of time.

2 wembleys and 2 trophies was amazing and it couldn't last forever. I said before the game that I believed whoever won this game would win the cup so I think Wigan will be taking the silverware. Now Warrington have got to concentrate first on finishing top of the league and then hopefully having a good run of play offs to get to Old Trafford. The fans will hope they can stop Wigan contesting for the treble. 

Challenge Cup Quarters- St Helens v Hull KR

Now we have the last game of the weekend and that is St Helens v Hull KR. Everyone is thinking it so why not say it, walk in the park for Saints? Well you don’t get to 3rd in the table for nothing, even when they are off their best Saints can still be a very dangerous side and you can easily slip up and be caught out before you know it. Famous for last minute wins are Saints but I doubt that will be necessary this time around. However, don’t just write the Hull KR side off. They go in without the expectation to win or win well like Saints so there is no pressure they just have to go out and pull off a strong performance and if they lose it won’t be a shock so in that respect they are at an advantage. On the other hand, Saints go in with floods of confidence after a huge 40-18 win over Catalan Dragons. Hull KR do also go in with a slightly unconvincing 21-8 win over Salford. I don’t think they are good enough to topple St Helens but I’m free to being surprised. Also with Hull KR announcing the departure of Ben Cockayne are they 100% concentrated on the game. It’s a big game so who are the big men who can direct each team to victory?
James Roby
Number 9 James Roby has been highly influential for Saints this year and I expect no less than normal in this quarter final game. He has made 22 appearances for St Helens in Super League this season and has run a massive 4430 metres; he has managed to give away 10 penalties but has a clean sheet with no cards at all this season. He is a certain hard worker in the Saints side with 880 tackles and 803 carries. There is no doubt he is the best player in red and white this year.
Michael Dobson
After a disaster with being de-registered for Willie Mason who barely lasted in Super League Michael has made 14 appearances and was certainly missed in the patch he was injured. He is Mr Kicker at Hull KR with 78 attacking kicks and 151 kicks in general play. He has also kicked 3 drop goals including one in last week’s win against Salford, but I highly doubt drop goals will be necessary in this game. I am quite happy to be proven wrong though if Hull KR come out with a shock performance.
My money is on Hull KR, who have you got your eyes on?

Challenge Cup Quarters- Hull FC v Leeds

We’re now onto the third match of my previews with the second televised game of the weekend on BBC Two. It’s Hull FC v Leeds. The Challenge Cup brings together 7 and 8 in the Super League which should be an interesting match. With them playing each other last weekend can Hull come back from the 20-0 loss on Friday. In my opinion: no.
At the weekend Hull were quite boring and it seemed there was no game plan or it was lost in transaction. Both teams were below their usual standard and I’m sure both will have been looking how to dramatically improve during the week. I think Leeds can be very dangerous down the left wing especially with Danny McGuire being the key man in the movement generally resulting in a try from Ryan Hall who has a total of 17 tries in 21 games in the Super League this season. Will Hull be able to stop the movement this week? The home team found it very easy in the second half to break through the defence in patches. Leeds seem to have greatly improved in their defensive line even when Hull came on the attack they were unable to grasp any points. So who do I feel are most instrumental for the 2 teams?
Tom Briscoe
The main man you see scoring is Tom Briscoe who currently has a tally of 16 tries in 22 appearances. It is no surprise that the 21-year-old winger is in the England Elite squad. He certainly has talent but for him to work his magic he needs his team to be helping him shift the ball down field in the forward so he can get near enough to the try line to worm his way to 4 points in usual fashion.
Danny McGuire
Unfortunately for Leeds they have only has Danny McGuire for 9 games this season and it still seems he is not at full fitness yet. It is a shame but he has kicked on since he returned from injury to try and save Leeds’ season. I think they have to get far in the Challenge Cup again after an awful slip in form in the table in 2011. If Danny can get his inch perfect kicks and passes in I think they will fly through to the next round with ease. I’m not saying it is all on him though because if they manage to have Rob Burrow on form then they can see themselves in the hat for the semis. Sorry Hull.
Will Leeds be able to make it to the final for the second year in a row? The only way to find out is to get to the KC stadium or switch to BBC 2 for 15.30 kick off.

Challenge Cup Quarters- Castleford v Huddersfield

By the time we head into Sunday's games we will already know the fate of Warrington and Wigan with one packing up for the semis and the other being brutally knocked out. So, we move on to the next game of the weekend – Castleford v Huddersfield. I do hope we don't have another kit clash, can't be getting Hilda this time!
When the draw was made and up until a few weeks ago you would have easily backed Huddersfield for the semis, not that I didn’t rate Castleford I just thought the giants would be too strong. However, with Huddersfield now having to go into the game without experienced stand-off Kevin Brown and coming in after back-to-back losses at Warrington and Bradford people will question their ability to raise in this occasion. Last week’s 36-0 loss at Bradford appeared to shock everyone even the home supporters so even with Danny Brough are they able to win?
Castleford are quite the opposite and enter the game off too narrow wins at Bradford (34-30) and Crusaders (20-26). Personally I don’t believed the away team deserved the win at Crusaders but this does show that even when Castleford are playing poor they can still grasp the all important 2 points. Or was it just Crusaders showing why they are where they are in the league?
So who are the key men to guide the teams around the field?
Rangi Chase
I am not the biggest fan if I’m honest because I feel he can be quite an inconsistent player but on his day he can certainly direct the team to a perfectly executed win and if he is at the top of his game then I believe Huddersfield could be in for a shock of leaving the cup in just the Quarter Finals. Chase has made a massive total of 2462 metres and put in 161 attacking kicks this year proving both his fitness and desire to win.
Danny Brough
I am hoping Danny will be at his peak as well to make this game as exciting as it should be. When on form and at good fitness this man can control the field, he can completely outwit his opponents giving them no hope of any comeback. With 67 goals and 7 tries in 17 appearances, can he help his team pull out a highly important win?
Between the teams there is just 1 point difference in their total points scored in the Super League this season with Huddersfield just edging it with 563 points. Top points scorers for each are Kirk Dixon with 186 and Danny Brough with 163.
Huddersfield will want to proceed through in the cup after reaching the final in 2009 just losing out to Warrington, to then be knocked out in the fifth round by Warrington at the Galpharm losing 4-60. However, Castleford never made it this far dropping out in the fourth round to Barrow losing 28-34.
Who will make it into the semi finals?

Challenge Cup Quarters- Warrington v Wigan

As Challenge Cup weekend approaches fans are gathering nerves as the teams prepare to battle it out for a place in the Semi-finals. I think every fan base would agree that the biggest game of the weekend goes to Warrington and Wigan playing at the Halliwell Jones and that isn’t my Warrington fan coming in.

Warrington v Wigan

The top 2 of Engage Super League clash in the cup but who will come out top? Warrington have won the prize 2 years in a row but does this mean they can beat the Super League Leaders and Champions of 2010? Wigan go in winning their last 6 with Warrington only 5 of their last 6. So who are the main men to make or break the game for each team?

Sam Tomkins

The 22 year old has teams eating out the palm of his hands even from the full back position. Scoring a massive 18 tries in 20 appearances during the 2011 season, the wolves defence will have to stay hard and strong if they are to stop Wigan’s main man from scoring. He has also managed to assist in 24 tries and kick forty-twenties this season to give his team vital field position. After being knocked out in the last challenge cup round I’m sure he’ll be ready to make a big impression this time round.

Lee Briers

He may be a lot older than Sam Tomkins but this man still shines when he needs to and works hard game in game out helping Wolves stay at or near the top of the Engage Super League. No one can deny that last year’s Lance Todd Trophy winner can give Warrington a kick start and build a whole game around him. Briers has been over the try line more than expected this year with 14 tries in 18 appearances and managing to assist in a following 16 makes this man’s attack very dangerous.  When on his best his kicks in general play can shoot a team to pieces. Will he be on his best to push Wolves into the Semis?

Warrington will be again without captain Adrian Morley and probably Ben Harrison but that doesn't mean they can't pull out a win with the likes of The Monaghan Brothers, Brett Hodgson and Richie Myler. They will all have to be on the top of their game.

I couldn’t predict a scoreline but I think it will be a very close and highly intense game sure to get everyone biting on their fingernails. The game is an official sell out so the atmosphere should be buzzing and ready to back their team from the first hooter to the last.

Who will be all smiles this time round?