PLAYERS will be feeling it, fans will be feeling it, one kit man will definitely be feeling the Easter weekend.
A dozen matches, mostly played in poor weather, saw Super League sides slug it out not once but twice over the course of four days.
St Helens were the big winners, coming out on top in matches against Wigan – finally on a Good Friday – and Widnes.
Hull and Warrington also notched a double but the big losers were Widnes and Hull KR, who lost both while Huddersfield only emerged with one point.
The biggest bill of the weekend? The one for soap powder at Castleford after they played in not one but two mudbaths.
But what did SunSport spot over the two rounds of fixtures? Here’s six of the things that caught our eyes.
WILKIN WONDER
JON WILKIN admits it, he feels he is getting old but against Wigan, on his 400th St Helens appearance, he certainly showed he can still produce on the big stage. Before his starring role, the back rower made quips about being an old man of Justin Holbrook’s side but his performance showed there is no substitute for experience. Often a target for the critics whenever things do not go right but this showing proved a good few people wrong.
WOODY MARVELLOUS
SALFORD boss Ian Watson has another problem on his hands – only this time it is a good one. Youngster Josh Wood impressed against both Catalans and Leeds at hooker and at scrum-half, so which position does he put him in. “I thought Josh was a number nine,” said Watson after his starring role against the Dragons at number seven. The 22-year-old’s versatility may be needed in the coming weeks but based on the early signs, moving will not lessen his impact.
REF RAGE
AS IF the Hull derby was not fiery enough, referee Chris Kendall added to the flames with his performances, sending off Hull’s Bureta Faraimo just nine minutes in. More worryingly, though, was the fact that one 40 minute half took 62 minutes to complete! Hull boss Lee Radford has had enough of the reliance on the video ref, saying: “Either employ a referee who is going to grow a pair or have a video referee in every game so at least we know what we’re getting. We’re constantly going up to the video referee. Too much is going up. If that game isn’t on Sky, the referee has got to make them decisions himself. You’re almost dreading a Sky game.”
JUST JOSH-ING
“He looked like Lionel Messi celebrating there, pointing to everyone,” said Leeds coach Brian McDermott after Josh Walters’ try rounded off their 20-0 win over Salford. For all the skills and the goalscoring, though, Messi is more than willing to roll his sleeves up and track runners, make clearances and tackle way. Rhinos youngster, and he is still one, Walters did similar on the rugby league pitch – making hard carries and hard challenges before getting his reward, Definitely something to build on.
FLOOD-Y HELL
IT IS a fair bet Castleford’s kit man is still crying after the Tigers’ muddy Easter slog. First their away kit took a pasting in a Wakefield mudbath then their home kit was soaked as they faced Warrington in a flood that was more suited to armbands than boots! Frankly, neither side should have gone through that and fair play to both sets of players for doing it. Hopefully, an industrial-sized box of washing powder and bottle of fabric softener are on their way to West Yorkshire.
COREY BLIMEY
WHEN Corey Thompson left Widnes to return to Australia, many said things along the lines of, ‘He’ll never play in the NRL, that’s why he came to Super League.’ Fast forward a couple of months and he is a star at Wests Tigers and has already earned a new deal. Thompson’s progress should also be a confidence boost to the competition in that it shows it can both get and polish players capable of cutting it down under. More of the same, both with British players and foreign ones would do just nicely.
Leave a comment