In what was drawn out as a home game for Championship table toppers Toronto Wolfpack, the Canadian side travelled to the Halliwell-Jones to take on the Warrington Wolves. The Wolves are on a brilliant winning run which has seen them up to third in the table but their near namesakes from over the pond have only lost one game all season.
This was a big test of the ‘Super League readiness’ of the Wolfpack with both the pro- and anti- expansionists paying close attention to the outcome, and more importantly the performance.
Could Toronto follow Leigh in performing a shocking entry into the quarter finals or would the Wolves send their opponents packing back to Canada with their tail between their legs?
The Wolves were unchanged from the side which beat the Rhinos last time out while Toronto were hoping to pick up where they left off after thumping Swinton last weekend as the sides emerged into brilliant sunshine.
Toronto had a brilliant start when Adam Higson took a high Gareth O’Brien pass on six minutes to go over in the corner. Ryan Brierley was unable to add the extras but the Wolves had been served with a very early wake up call.
On fourteen minutes Liam Kay went over in the other corner at the end of a passing move through quick hands. Brierley was again unable to convert from the touchline but the Wolves were stunned as Toronto threw as much at them as most Super League sides have this season.
Warrington struck back on twenty-two when Mike Cooper crashed over the line after spinning out of one attempted tackle and dragging two Toronto tacklers with him. The was a fracas after the try but it didnt put Bryson Goodwin off as he slotted over the extras for 6-8.
Liam Kay was sin-binned for his role in a clumsy tackle as he lifted the legs of a Warrington player, the Wolfpack down to twelve until a few seconds before half-time.
In a real arm-wrestle of a game tempers spilled over for a third time after Ben Murdoch-Masila put in a robust tackle. The referee put both captains on warning.
After withstanding Wolves pressure and getting the benefit of a video referee NO TRY decision Toronto went downfield and when presented with a penalty for holding down Ryan Brierley kicked the goal to extend the lead to 10-6.
The game re-ignited on thirty seven after another full-blooded tackle and referee Thalers tolerance finally ended with Andrew Dixon being sent off for a punch on Harvey Livett. The Wolfpack were down to eleven with one man still in the bin.
The sending off paid instantly when thirty seconds from time Josh Charnley flew over down the righthand side to ground one-handed in the corner after a ten metre run on receiving the Stefan Ratchford pass. Goodwin converted from the touchline to give Warrington a 12-10 half time lead.
Seconds after the restart the Wolves broke the line and then used the overlap for Harvey Livett to step back inside and go over. Goodwin was unable to add the extras, Warrington now 16-10 ahead.
On forty-five Ben Muroch-Masila walked through a massive gap in the Toronto defence as they slid to the left and went ten metres to score. Goodwin added the extras for 22-10, the Wolves now pulling clear.
On forty-six Josh McCrone couldn’t hold his tongue and referee Thaler sent him to the sin-bin. The indiscipline was becoming an embarrassment for the Championship club who had lost the plot.
Warrington were in again on fifty when Jack Hughes took an offload for a fifteen metre try and gave Goodwin a simple conversion to put the outcome beyond the Wolfpack.
More dissent saw Danny Lussick into the sin bin on fifty-two, Toronto now down to ten men and their own worse enemy as they imploded.
On fifty-three Ben Westwood was the sixth Wolves try scorer, through a threadbare defence. Goodwin was again accurate with the boot for 34-10.
The procession continued when three minutes later Tom Lineham went down the left wing for a forty metre try, rounding behind the sticks to give Goodwin a simple sixth conversion of the afternoon. A Jack Hughes line break put Tyrone Roberts over for the eighth try for the Primrose and Blue for 44-10 but Goodwin failed to add the extras.
The try of the afternoon came on sixty-six after a fifty metre Ratchford break down field, pass to Goodwin who put in a perfect kick to the corner which was collected and grounded by Tom Lineham. Goodwin added the extras from the touchline to bring up the fifty.
On sixty-nine Murdoch-Masila ran over the top of McCrone for his second of the afternoon and Goodwin added the conversion, his ninth of the afternoon. Charnleys second of the afternoon came of seventy-two after an unhindered run down the right wing ended with him touching down under the sticks. Goal number nine for Goodwin made it 62-10.
Tom Lineham completed his hat-trick with thirty seconds left on the clock when he took a Livett pass to dive over. Goodwin was unable to add the goal for a final score of 66-10.
Toronto were right in this game until their indiscipline cost them dear. Thaler had no option but to dismiss Dixon for the punch but the Toronto players didn’t agree and made it their mission to have a go at him at every opportunity. A referee with his experience isn’t going to stand for that but it was a lesson which took Toronto a while to learn. The second half was clinical from Warrington who ran in fifty-four unanswered points in a devastating forty minutes.
If this was a guide to Toronto’s Super League readiness then they would be okay if the games lasted forty minutes. For an eighty minute game they have some way to go.
Wolfpack: O’Brien, Higson (T), Stanley, Worthington, Kay (T, SB on 29), McCrone (SB on 47), Brierley (G), Lussick (SB on 52), Beswick, Sims, Dixon (SO on 38), Paterson, Emmitt. Subs: Sidlow, Bussey, Ackers, Hopkins.
Wolves:Ratchford, Lineham (3T), Goodwin (9G), Atkins, Charnley (2T), Brown, Roberts (T), Hill, Clark, Cooper (T), Livett (T), Hughes (T), Westwood (T). Subs:Murdoch-Masila (2T), Patton. Akauola, Philbin.
Referee: Ben Thaler.
Half-Time: 10-12.
Full-Time: 10-66.
Attendance: .
