Former Dally M winner Todd Carney returned to the Catalans starting line-up as the Dragons put on 10 tries to embarrass Wigan 58-16.
The French side have moved up to sixth place on the Super League table, in a match which was a complete turnaround to the corresponding fixture a month ago, where Wigan won 34-0.
The Dragons made up for the disappointing scoreline to give what opposition coach Shaun Wane described as “one of the worst days at the office” he has ever had.
Catalan dominated Wigan’s forward pack, which set the platform for Carney to do what he does best.
The former Shark delivered pinpoint wide passes for each of his wingers to score, and sent Zeb Taia down the left side for the first of his three tries.
Cheeky Salford fan hooks it to the right
After Warrington winger Gene Ormsby went over for his third and most spectacular try of the night, an inebriated Salford fan thought he would have a crack at the conversion out wide, on behalf of regular kicker Stefan Ratchford.
It wasn’t a bad strike – the ball swung to the right as Ratchford stood there chuckling to himself.
Perhaps the most surprising moment was the drunken fan was not suddenly tackled by half a dozen security personnel, but was politely gestured back towards his seat by the referee and match officials.
The Wolves went on to win 34-18, which makes it six straight defeats for the Red Devils.
Warrington coach Tony Smith gave Ormsby and Irish international Ben Currie a wrap in the post-match press conference, but perhaps should have given kudos to ring-in hooker Brad Dwyer, who was signed from Championship club London Broncos and was superb off the bench.
Salford had gained momentum, fighting back to be down by only four points. Then, just as winger Jason Walton made a break, Dwyer came up with a belter of a hit to dislodge the ball and a scored the match winning try a few minutes later when he struck from out of dummy-half.
Dwyer lifted the pace of the match when he came on during the second half, and Salford were not able to keep up.
Sinfield moves up the ranks
Kevin Sinfield continued to make history, as Leeds held off a spirited Hull KR to stay on top of the Super League table. The Rhinos captain scored the five points needed to overtake Gus Risman in rugby league’s all-time point scoring list.
Sinfield kicked six goals from seven attempts and scored a late try to take his haul to 4,062 points in his 550th appearance.
The Rhinos won 36-16, but survived an early scare as the Rovers took the lead in the first quarter of the match. Leeds eventually got a grip on the game, with two tries in five minutes, as they took a step closer to the League Leaders Shield.
Vikings pillage leaderless Wildcats
Widnes were able to notch up their first away victory of the season, as they piled more misery on Wakefield.
Coach James Webster parted ways with the Wildcats midweek, after a period of misfortune for the embattled club. Perhaps the most optimistic of fans could have looked at recent history for an unlikely win. Rugby league clubs in both NRL and Super League have a knack of winning the next game after the departure of a head coach.
This was not the case for Wakefield, as Widnes eased to victory 30-18, with two late tries adding a bit of respectability to the Wildcats’ score.
Magic Weekend arrives in Newcastle
Newcastle United’s St James Park will host a whole round of Super League fixtures this weekend. Three games will be played each day, and has some juicy match-ups.
The Hull derby will be enticing as both clubs have found some form, although these two clubs usually bring out each other’s best.
Hull FC will be out for revenge after Hull KR embarrassed them at the KC Stadium over Easter.
Leeds will take on Wigan in what Warriors centre Anthony Gelling has predicted to be “another classic”. Gelling scored the winning try for Wigan during last year’s corresponding fixture. The Warriors won 18-14 win over Leeds – and this is expected to be another close match.
A resurgent Catalan Dragons take on Huddersfield Giants, who have won their last four Super League matches, including a 24-16 win at Castleford last Thursday night.
St Helens and Warrington will also continue their push for a top-four finish when they do battle on Sunday.
The Magic Weekend has been played across Britain – from Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium, to Murrayfield in Edinburgh. Last weekend The Championship played their version of the Magic Weekend in Blackpool, affectionately named ‘The Summer Bash’.
The Summer Bash was well attended and the quality of the matches certainly reflected the amount of support given.
Hopefully this weekend provides a bit of magic as well.
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