BIG calls and big players are decisive in big matches and Sam Burgess got all of his just right to lead Warrington Wolves to Wembley for the second successive year.
Burgess was coy in his pre-match press conference around the availability of his injured players, notably Toby King and Marc Sneyd, though when both were named in the 21-man squad it was inevitable that they would play.
Sneyd, less than three weeks since suffering a fractured eye socket, was brought in for his kicking and organising quality and he had the desired impact, even if his first kick attempt was charged down and led to Edwin Ipape’s opening minute try.
Leigh didn’t get near to putting Sneyd under enough pressure, and he was able to have the sort of influence on the game that Warrington will no doubt have had in mind when they moved to bring him in from Salford earlier in the year, and barely had a hand laid on him.
Even his drop goal before half-time highlighted the calming nature of having him in the team, requiring Leigh to need to convert two tries at that stage to turn things around.
But despite his display, he wasn’t even in the top three as a brilliant team performance led Warrington to victory.
Paul Vaughan was immense leading from the front, with strong and direct carries, always keen to promote an offload at any opportunity and reading the game in front of him, as seen when he completed the most unlikely of scoots from dummy half for his try.
Speculation over his future continues, but Warrington will be desperate to persuade him to stay on that form. Only when he, and Luke Yates, were off the field did Leigh look like winning the battle in the middle, but the Leopards simply couldn’t muster the field position required to put Warrington under pressure.
Matt Dufty was the TV man of the match for the way he held things together at the back for Warrington, especially in the period in the second half where the two sides went set for set and Leigh simply couldn’t wrestle any territory off the Wolves.
Dufty was getting on to the kicks from Lachlan Lam and Gareth O’Brien and returning them with interest each time, giving Warrington a front foot start on each set. He also made the critical tackle to deny David Armstrong from close range after Edwin Ipape had been held up short, which came at a time when Leigh were building up momentum in the second half.
Even in adversity, losing Matty Ashton and later Josh Thewlis, Warrington got things right. Naming Arron Lindop on the bench rather than carrying an extra forward in the physical battle against Leigh proved important, though was probably a precaution given Ashton and King’s knocks. That enabled them to move things round, with King ending up on the wing and scoring the crucial third try, even if his late few offloads and hospital pass to Dufty that saw him clobbered by Owen Trout won’t have helped Burgess’ heart-rate late on.
Ben Currie was another top performer for the Wolves, a player who often has to move around and show his versatility when knocks occur.
Of course, the elusive league title remains the number one aim for Warrington, but with two major trophies on offer during the season, they have put themselves within 80 minutes of securing one of them – and Burgess will want a lot more from his side than they showed against Wigan at Wembley 12 months ago.
