GARRY SCHOFIELD sees danger signals for Castleford Tigers
Talk about a tale of two coaches.
With two wins out of two, it’s been a great start to life at Warrington for Daryl Powell.
But Lee Radford, the man who replaced him at Castleford, has endured a torrid beginning to his tenure.
Radders, of course, is very experienced, and certainly won’t be pressing the panic button just yet.
But in losing at home to Salford and then over at Warrington, it’s clear there’s a lot of work to do.
Warrington were a bit fortunate to get one over on Leeds at Headingley but saw off Castleford comfortably.
While Radders had a dig at the officials and the penalty count, they weren’t responsible for the indiscipline of and errors made by the Castleford players, which Warrington exploited.
The home side produced some attractive rugby and scored some great tries, but in contrast, none of the visitors played with a smile on their face.
Paul McShane was strangely out of sorts, and the halfbacks, Jake Trueman and Gareth O’Brien, looked hesitant and short of ideas.
Compare that with Warrington, for whom Gareth Widdop and George Williams were lively and inventive.
The only Castleford player who caught my eye was Joe Westerman, while Warrington had influential players throughout their team.
One thing I have noticed is that compared with St Helens and Catalans, Powelly has quite a small pack, but on the other side of the coin, his forwards are probably more mobile than those of other teams.
Here’s my latest set of marks out of ten:
Warrington: Ratchford 8, Charnley 8, Mata’utia 8, King 7, Ashton 7, Widdop 9, Williams 9, Philbin 8, Walker 8, Mulhern 8, Currie 8, Longstaff 8, Jason Clark 8.
Castleford: Evalds 5, Olpherts 4, Fonua 4, Mamo 4, Faraimo 4, Trueman 3, O’Brien 3, Lawler 4, McShane 3, Smith 4, Sutcliffe 4, Edwards 4, Westerman 7.
Channel 4 will be missed
We’ve got an interesting third round of Super League games coming up, and it’s just a shame we won’t be able to watch one of them on Channel 4.
They’ve made a great start to their Rugby League coverage, but unfortunately for viewers, the deal is for only ten games a season.
There won’t be another match screened until Saturday, March 19, when Warrington host Wakefield.
Hopefully people won’t have found other things to do on a Saturday lunchtime by then!
Their second offering was Hull versus St Helens, and we once again saw just how hard it’s going to be to knock Kristian Woolf’s side off course as they seek a fourth successive title.
They are superbly balanced, with a pack of forwards capable of putting in the hard yards, creative halves (Lewis Dodd was good for the second week running) and backs who are ready to take the chances created.
Hull had Luke Gale sent off, and there’s no rhyme or reason behind such a stupid act in raising a leg and showing studs, but even with 13 men, I don’t think they’d have lived with their visitors.
Luke is set for a suspension; and I think they could be in for another defeat when Salford head along the M62 on Saturday. I take the Red Devils to prevail by eight.
On the same day, I think Warrington will make it three wins from three at the expense of Toulouse, triumphing by 26 in France.
Friday’s clash between Hull KR and Castleford brings together two sides with two defeats from two after Rovers lost at Huddersfield, who have made a solid start.
Tony Smith’s team lost against Wigan the week before, and while they’ve faced two strong opponents, their performances seem to have fallen a little flat.
It looks as though they were a bit at sloppy at the John Smith’s and only came to life for a short while.
An experienced bloke like Tony won’t panic, nor will he change his approach, but he may well have a nagging worry that after last season’s achievements, the players are believing their own hype a bit too much.
He’ll be calling for a week of hard work and a no-nonsense gritty performance against Castleford and I reckon it will be Rovers who take the spoils – by ten.
Wakefield face a tough trip to St Helens on Friday on the back of two defeats, although they haven’t been hammered in either game against Hull, then Catalans.
They’ve produced some stand-out shows against Saints in the last, but I can’t see them pulling off an upset… Woolf’s man by 32.
I also think Leeds will finish round three still seeking a first win.
Wigan were too strong for them on Friday, and that partnership between Blake Austin and Aidan Sezer isn’t perfect just yet.
The Rhinos were okay for 20 minutes or so but then really poor, and I’m predicting Catalans to come to Headingley on Thursday and win by seven.
That same night it’s Wigan against Huddersfield, and while Ian Watson enjoys a crack at the Warriors, the way Matty Peet has got his team organised and operating is impressive.
While the Sean Long influence is far from evident at Leeds, Lee Briers seems to have had a quick impact at Wigan, where Cade Cust is catching the eye and John Bateman is playing well.
I’ll got the Warriors by 14.
Gentleman John
Commenting on the recent loss of NRL Immortal Johnny Raper, the former St George Illawarra Dragons coach Roy Masters said: “A piece of Sydney died with him.”
I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say a piece of Hull died with Johnny Whiteley.
The many tributes paid to the great man were speedy and warm, and deservedly so.
And the fact that they came from both sides of the Rugby League divide in the city, as well as from much further afield, tells you everything you need to know.
Johnny was primarily associated with the Black and Whites, but he also had a spell as coach of Hull KR, and after his official association with the game ended, he remained close to both clubs and popular with both sets of fans.
I never saw him play, and I would really like to have done, because as I’ve often said, I’m a big fan of the old-style loose-forward, and from everything you hear and read, Johnny was right up there with the best of them, talented and tough, but scrupulously fair.
He was also a great coach, the last to guide Great Britain to Ashes glory, back in 1970. It’s a particularly special achievement because it was on Australian soil.
Talking to and reading about people who played under him, it’s clear that he had a real talent when it came to man-management.
I found that out when I was playing at Hull, because as so many have said, he was a regular visitor to the training ground, and always had something insightful to say as well as words of encouragement.
Anyone who didn’t listen to his advice was a fool.
And it wasn’t just professional players who benefited because he was central to the creation of the successful West Hull amateur club and also welcomed many of the city’s youngsters through the doors of the gym he set up.
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