After Round 4 of the Super League, let’s take a look at six of the biggest talking points.
1. Wigan riding their luck
Only two teams have a perfect record after Round 3, and at the start of the season you would not have been surprised that one of those teams would be Wigan Warriors.
However, it is clear that they are not playing well and, they’ve struggled to put any of their games to bed; the win at home to Salford on Thursday night was a lucky one. The Warriors held a comfortable 16-2 lead at one point but allowed the Red Devils to get back in the game and they got seriously lucky with the winning try.
If the video referee had been in place for this match there would have been questions raised over Taulima Tautai’s play the ball and Dominic Manfredi’s finish in the corner.
The Warriors are not looking fluent in attack at the moment and it could have been a different story if the game had been televised or if Salford had not had an unscheduled four-day turnaround after their tough league win over Widnes Viking the previous Sunday.
I must admit that I like the look of Salford, particularly Robert Lui and Ben Murdoch-Masila.
2. Warrington on fire
The Warrington Wolves were the second team with a 100 percent record after three rounds and they were never in trouble from the instant Ben Currie went 90 metres to score after a Wildcats error. Currie showed an impressive turn of speed for a big man and is a true athlete – and one of my favourite players.
Wildcats’ head coach Brian Smith bemoaned the five-day turn around his side had after picking up their first win of the season at Hull KR last Sunday, but he can be proud of his team’s performance – remember that they lost last year’s corresponding fixture 80-0 – after they trailed 24-6 at half time. They could easily have fallen away but held the Wolves 10-10 in the second half.
It is great to see that Chris Sandow is firing on all cylinders at the moment. He scored two tries against Wakefield, including one cracking individual effort when he chipped and regathered, and had a hand in two other tries as well. He might be worth a punt on the Man of Steel award if he can stay fit.
3. Hull FC no longer perfect
Hull FC lost their flawless record in a fantastic contest against the Castleford Tigers. I’ve mentioned before that it is all about consistency for Hull FC and their level of performance dropped off against the Tigers, if only slightly, and it was enough to cost them the game.
I don’t think they should be too upset.
The Tigers played really well and bossed the game through halves Luke Gale and Ben Roberts, the latter of whom is really sparking into life this year, while the FC combination of Marc Sneyd and Leon Pryce struggled at times.
At 12-0 and 18-6 down in the first half, FC would have gone into their shell and accepted defeat in 2015. This year though, they are a different proposition, and should be credited for making the Tigers work really hard for their two points.
Jamie Shaul and Danny Houghton were outstanding for FC while, in addition to their halves, Tigers wingers Denny Solomona and Jy Hitchcox played well and scored all five tries between them – Solomona’s hat-trick taking him to six tries for the season.
Hitchcox, an Australian signed from Featherstone Rovers, looked comfortably at home after being called in late on when Joel Monaghan dropped out injured.
4. KR on the up
Hull KR’s atrocious performance at home to Wakefield Trinity Wildcats last Sunday paved the way for head coach Chris Chester to lose his job, and Rovers fans needed caretaker coach Willie Poching to lift his players to a higher level against St Helens on Friday night.
He certainly achieved that, particularly in the first half, but they lost their way when Albert Kelly left the field injured just before half time.
Kelly looks likely to miss this weekend’s trip to leaders Widnes Vikings, another injury blow to an already severely weakened squad.
They could also be without in-form prop James Green, who has been charged for punching Travis Burns and could face a two-match ban.
Former Rovers captain Burns faces the same charge for the punch-up with Green, the latest instalment of a simmering feud which has carried over from last year’s fixture when Green was responsible for fracturing Burns’ cheekbone.
The Robins led a poor St. Helens side 16-10 at the break and could have had a bigger lead as a dubious video referee decision cost Ryan Shaw a try on his full debut.
The on-field referee, Phil Bentham, called it up as a no try on the say so of his touch judge who thought that Shaw had a foot in touch. The replay clearly showed he did not but the video referee, James Child, decided that there was a small amount of separation between Shaw’s hand and the ball as he touched down and, because Bentham had called it as a no try, it was easy for Child to turn the try down.
The Saints improved in the second half as the Rovers started to make errors and concede penalties, but there is no question that St Helens are struggling at the moment. Whether they are good enough to make the top four remains to be seen.
5. Aussie impact
I feel as though I can’t stop writing about this guy at the moment, but “The Coal Train” David Taylor put in his best performance so far against defending champions Leeds Rhinos on Saturday night.
Taylor was virtually unstoppable, scoring two tries and providing a real handful throughout the match – he is a joy to watch.
His performance overshadowed the return to Super League of Willie Mason, who was solid if not spectacular, while fellow Aussie recruit Glenn Stewart made a massive 56 tackles.
The Dragons came back well from their poor showing against Hull FC and could have finished the game off a lot quicker, having led 24-8 early in the second half.
The Rhinos showed good spirit and played much better than they have this season. Even though they remain bottom of the league after Round 3, they will be hopeful of getting off the mark this weekend against the only other team without a point so far this season, Huddersfield Giants.
6. Vikings on top, Huddersfield not so much
While the Huddersfield Giants are struggling, their skinny squad depleted by injuries allowed the Widnes Vikings to go back to the top of the table with a comfortable 36-18 win.
Vikings skipper Kevin Brown was on top form and Corey Thompson joined Solomona at the top of the try scoring charts with another two tries taking his total to six as well.
Widnes Denis Betts stated that Kevin Brown was good enough for an England call up. There is absolutely no doubt about that, but I’m afraid it is unlikely to happen.
A Brown and Danny Brough halves pairing for England would, in my mind, be better than anything we have now and it will be interesting to see if new England coach Wayne Bennett has a chat with Brough at some point.
Despite Brough returning to the Giants lineup, Huddersfield are really struggling and will need to get a few more bodies back before they look to compete for a top four place.
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