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With the Challenge Cup concluded, the Super League looks ahead to the second-half of the season as matters intensify as two sides clash outside of the play-off places with Leeds Rhinos travelling over the Pennines to take on the Warrington Wolves.
Warrington have been busy off the field in recent weeks as they announced the signings of Sam Kasiano and Gil Dudson, from the Catalan Dragons, starting from 2023 on two-year deals. NRL star Thomas Mikalele has also signed for the primrose and blue of Warrington on a 2.5 year deal that will see him at the club through until 2024.
The 24-year-old who has made 66 appearances in the NRL with Wests Tigers has said ‘I haven’t been this excited like this in a long time, I can’t wait to get over there and show what I can do.’
The 6ft 4in New Zealand prop will join up with the squad on Saturday and so will miss the game against Leeds. Warrington also announced the signing of prop Kyle Amor from St.Helens, who has won four Super League titles and one Challenge Cup medal, is in contention to make his debut on Friday.
The two sides met all the way back in Round One in a sell-out crowd at Headingley with Channel Four making their Rugby League debut and what a game that was. Controversy, drama and spectacular are just a few words to describe the game. A late Connor Wrench try sealed the win for Warrington but undoubtedly, Leeds with a man down due to James Bentley’s red card, were the better team. But two points is two points if your a Warrington fan, and there would not have been any complaints.
Going back to 2021 when the two sides met, matters went down to the wire when on George Williams’ Warrington debut, he slotted a drop goal in the dying moments of the game to break Leeds’ hearts.
The two side are pretty even at the moment in the league table and having not had the best start to the season, both Daryl Powell and new Leeds coach Rohan Smith will be destined to fight for the play-off places. starting on Friday at the Halliwell Jones Stadium.
Powell and his Warrington side currently sit in 8th place with 10 points, just two points behind 6th placed Castleford. The Wire have only recorded five wins so far this season against Leeds, Castleford, Toulouse, Salford and Huddersfield. They have been beaten nine times out of the possible 13 which is their worst start to the season since 2017.
Under new management, Rohan Smith has made a positive start in his Leeds reign, winning against Wakefield at Headingley where it ended 24-6. Leeds sit in 10th just five points above bottom place Toulouse with only having four wins and eight losses with a point difference of -53.
It is also a welcome home for Leeds player and ex-Warrington stand-off, Blake Austin as he returns to the Halliwell Jones having moved across the Pennines last year. This will be his first time playing against his former club because when these two sides met earlier on this year, he was banned in a pre-season game. Despite missing out, he will be looking to get one over on his old team mates as he returns. From his stint with Warrington from 2019-2021, the half-back scored 29 tries in 59 appearances for the club.
Coaches Thoughts:
Powell was very satisfied with Warrington’s last outing against champions St.Helens when it ended 12-10 to the visitors. He has insisted that his side’s confidence has gone up a notch.
‘It has given us some more confidence and belief. I’ve been through the second half of our season with the boys and had a good look at what we’ve got coming at us’.
Powell also thinks that his side will kick on from that performance and got a great opportunity to do it to rivals Leeds. Josh Thewlis and Danny Walker will return to the side having missed the last game with injuries.
‘They’ll both come back into contention, so I’ve got a couple of decisions to make in regards the squad. Last time out we were pretty close in a really good performance, so there won’t be too many changes.’
He then went on to talk about the opposition in Leeds and how their team ‘has changed a bit.’ Powell and his team can’t read too much into the first two games of Rohan’s Leeds reign as he watched the game vs Salford. Richie Myler was at full-back and Zak Hardaker played in the centre, but then swapped positions. It’s a new coach trying to find his best team.
Rohan Smith started his press conference of by saying that there is a ‘small chance’ of Harry Newman returning to action having only played the one game vs Wakefield back in March. Smith has said that the centre is in ‘tremendous shape’ and is not completely ruled out for Friday’s game but his return would be most likely in the next few weeks.
Rohan also went onto mention that Zak Hardaker will continue his role at full-back this weekend and that the team he will choose on Friday will be similar to the last game vs Wakefield.
On the opposition, Rohan said that the Warrington outfit have ‘danger men all over the field’ and that they need to be careful for Warrington full-back Gareth Widdop after his display vs St.Helens a fortnight ago.
Players to watch:
There is a whole lot of talent in the Warrington team with the likes of Stefan Ratchford, Daryl Clark and George Williams. Young star Josh Thewlis is the one to look out for, following his incredible contributions to the Warrington side.
Since coming in to take over the full-back role, he has looked excellent when played there. Making his debut in 2019 vs Catalan, Thewlis has always brought a spark to the team and been highly influential at every position he has played. The 20-year-old has scored five tries and assisted one in the nine games he’s played with making 727 meters in 106 carries.
On the Leeds side, notable mentions go to the likes of Harry Newman, Ash Handley, Blake Austin but for me you can’t look anywhere else other than Captain Kruise Leeming.
Since signing from Huddersfield in 2020, he has been highly influential for the Rhinos, and was given the captaincy from coach at the time Richard Agar. The 26-year-old has played 12 games so far this season but hasn’t actually scored yet. However, Kruise has six try assists with making 616 meters in 96 carries and has made over 300 tackles.
21-man squads:
Warrington:
Kyle Amor, Matty Ashton, Joe Bullock, Daryl Clark, Jason Clark, Mike Cooper, Ben Currie, Matt Davis, Oliver Holmes, Toby King, Ellis Longstaff, Billy Magoulias, Peter Mata’utia, Robbie Mulhern, Joe Philbin, Stefan Ratchford, Josh Thewlis, Danny Walker, Gareth Widdop, George Williams, Connor Wrench.
Leeds:
Davis Fusitu’a, Liam Sutcliffe. Ash Handley, Blake Austin, Mikolaj Oledski, Kruise Leeming, Matt Prior, Rhyse Martin, Zane Tetevano, Brad Dywer, Richie Myler, Cameron Smith, Bodene Thompson, Morgan Gannon, Sam Walters, Jack Broadbent, Jarrod O’Connor, James Donaldson, Corey Johnson, Muizz Mustapha, Zak Hardaker.
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