Four Pointers: Warrington Wolves 40-10 Wigan Warriors

WARRINGTON THRASH POOR WARRIORS

Warrington Wolves got through a tough opening 20 minutes, to run away as clear winners on Thursday night at the Halliwell Jones Stadium.

It’s the second time in 4 weeks that Warrington have beaten their fellow rivals, the previous meeting coming at the DW Stadium earlier this month where Warrington won 28-16.

Following on from their impressive 48-16 win over Widnes last week, Warrington look a team in great form.

WIGAN’S WOEFUL DEFENCE

Warrington would’ve beaten any team in the league on last nights performance, theres no doubt about that. However, Wigan would also have been beaten by any team in the league last night. It was a complete contrast of performances.

Wigan’s defensive efforts last night were abysmal to say the least. Watching Warrington score soft try after soft try was disheartening for all Wigan fans.

There seemed to be a lack of energy, especially in the second half. The best example was the Benny Westwood tries. He simply just ran at the line and was carried over by the Wigan players for both tries, there was no real effort to stop him, it was embarrassing.

WARRINGTON DIDN’T HOLD BACK

As a fan of Wigan Warriors, I’m getting sick to death of using the ‘injury’ excuse week in week out. However, last night I think it started to take its toll on a lot of the players.

Young players like Gildart, Tierney, Powell, Wells and Burke who seem to have settled well into their roles, but maybe played one game too many and seem to be suffering from a little burnout.

Warrington took advantage of this and where rampant after going 4-0 down, scoring a total of 7 tries, in what was an impressive, persistent and simply brilliant performance from the Wolves.

VIEW OF THE MANAGERS

Smith was obviously delighted with the performance of his team, however he had a bit of sympathy for the opposition. Smith said:

“Wigan were down on a number of players and so are we,” he added, “The difference is most of our starting players were on the park.”

“We did what we ought to have done. Wigan are missing some crucial players at the moment. They’re doing it tough,”.

Shaun Wane, who was taking charge of his 150th game in charge of Wigan Warriors, said:

“I thought we showed some toughness, we didn’t give in. We finished with 12 men, we just gave ourselves too much to do against a very good team who were red hot.”

“I’m happy with where we’re at, we’ve got some players to come back.”

IN THE SHEDS

There was a few injuries at the end of this game for both sides. Warrington lost winger, Tom Lineham with a knock to the head after only 10 minutes. They also lost Ryan Atkins who came off after scoring two tries with a fractured finger.

Tony Smith on the injuries:

“We’ve taken Tom Lineham to hospital because it was fare knock. I’m pretty sure he will be okay but when you get a knock like that you need to make sure he sees the right people.”

Wigan would lose 3 forwards in the shape of Tony Clubb (head), Lee Mossop (quad) and Taulima Tautai (calf) all in the second half. They would go on to finish the game with 12 men through these injuries.

FINAL SCORE

Warrington Wolves (18) 40

Tries: Clark, Westwood 2, Penny, Atkins 2, Jullien

Goals: Gidley 5, Ratchford

Wigan Warriors (4) 10

Tries: Charnley, Bateman

Goal: Smith

Warrington: Russell; Penny, R. Evans, Atkins, Lineham; Gidley, Ratchford; Hill, Clark, Sims, Hughes, Currie, Westerman.

Replacements: G. King, Cox, Jullien, Westwood.

Wigan: Sarginson; Charnley, Gelling, Gildart, Tierney; Gregson, Smith; Clubb, Powell, Mossop, Bateman, Isa, Sutton.

Replacements: Williams, Tautai, Burke, Wells.

Referee: Phil Bentham

Attendance: 11,724