Warrington flopped against Wigan but don’t write them off in Super League

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Six days after their slugfest at Wembley, Wigan and Warrington will restart the countdown to what could be another meeting in a final in October. After celebrating their 21st Challenge Cup win, Wigan must adjust their focus from the glamour of Wembley to gritty Wheldon Road where they face Castleford on Friday night, while Warrington need to lift themselves for the visit of Salford.

It would be no surprise if the coach, Sam Burgess, led Warrington to glory in the next couple of years. If he does, they will look back on their flop at Wembley and realise it all started there. “We all wanted a spectacle and we didn’t get that,” admitted a visibly flat Burgess after his team had lost 18-8.

He refuted my suggestion that, once Wigan had gone 10 points ahead, scoreboard pressure contributed to such a disjointed performance. “It was nothing to do with that,” said Burgess. “It was just a bad day at the office. We didn’t freeze: we just never got going. We can always score points.”

Except they didn’t. Not until it was too late anyway. Their fans should not despair though. With two points separating the top four in Super League, Warrington merely need to maintain their form to reach the semi-finals – and hope Wigan have an off-day defending their crown.

While the Warriors give the impression they are an invincible machine, there is a softer side to the team behind the scenes. Matt Peet, usually so guarded and restrained, was almost gushing on Saturday evening, grinning, giggling and winking. “You wouldn’t believe how much fun we have,” he said. “It’s a brilliant place to work. We talk quite a lot about not chasing perfection. Things happen. Every game ebbs and flow; things go against them but they seem to rise up to that.”

Other than Bevan French sprinkling his genius on proceedings, Wigan were merely ruthlessly efficient. But their team spirit shone through. “The lads like spending time together,” said the captain and try-scorer Liam Farrell, having clinched the 15th major honour of his Wigan career. “Matty leads by example. He brings us all together.”

Peet has created a world-class environment from a pipeline of teenage talent, exemplified by the mature performances of two local youngsters at Wembley. The 19-year-old Junior Nsemba has slotted seamlessly into the right-side second-row channel vacated by Kai Pearce-Paul. He put in a solid display to make his uncle, the former Liverpool defender and Cameroon manager Rigobert Song, proud.

Beside Nsemba was the even less experienced Zach Eckersley, playing only his fifth game. With the right centre Adam Keighran suspended, Peet had switched Eckersley from the left to directly face the England international Toby King. While King ended last season lifting the Super League title on loan with Wigan, Eckersley – whose father played for Warrington – was in the stands at Old Trafford having spent the season in the Championship with London, Widnes and Barrow.

The 20-year-old’s performance was far more consistent than King’s. “I was a bit nervous for Zach when he dropped the ball early on but the other 12 players said ‘they are not scoring this set’,” said Peet. “That was all part of the storyline. I was very confident Junior and Zack would cope because of the players around them. They were very well connected. They’ve been in our system since they were 13 or 14. John Duffy’s done a wonderful job with them in our academy and Willie Isa has been amazing supporting them.”

With Abbas Miski hugging the right touchline, Eckersley made room for French to cause carnage inside him. King could not cope, waddling through the in-goal area on his knees grasping at Eckersley’s shorts as the youngster scored a dream debut try, then shooting out of the line only to see the Australian superstar waltz inside him for the second try.

Having abandoned their galacticos recruitment policy in favour of a local base, Warrington must now make stars of their own homegrown talent. “It’s a young squad,” said Burgess. “Twelve of those players had never played in a final before. It was the coach’s first final. We’ll do better next time. They’ll all learn from it. I will look at how I can get them better prepared. We’re not going to be shaken. How can reaching a final knock our confidence? We’ve got 14 opportunities to improve – a great opportunity in the league.”

Teams tend to go close before they start to win silverware. Whether Burgess can improve them sufficiently to end their 69-year title drought is another matter entirely.

Foreign quota

Wigan players collected the trophy on Saturday draped in flags from Swaziland, Cameroon, Lebanon, Australia and Samoa but it was their Indigenous Australian who stood out. “The Indigenous flag and culture is very special to me,” said Bevan French. “It was beautiful to see everyone represented. I was imagining my family watching back home on the telly.”

French had one hand on the Lance Todd Trophy after his effervescent first-half display, but his class was epitomised in two seconds of sublime calm late in the second half. As the Wigan fans roared during a manic passage of chaotic offloading play, French received the ball on the right and just stood still, as if the game had stopped. The crowd held their breath as he looked at the defensive line before passing infield, where Harry Smith attempted a drop goal. There was no other contender for my Lance Todd vote.

Clubcall: St Helens Women

Saints’ dynasty continues as Matty Smith’s team did a job on Leeds in the women’s final. If you include the run by their predecessors Thatto Heath Crusaders, Saints have now won seven of the past 10 Women’s Challenge Cups.

There was a lovely moment 90 seconds from the end of their 22-0 win as the Saints defensive line faced the big screen during a stoppage. Wembley’s PA announced the player of the match; the stand-off Zoe Harris flung her hands in the air in joy and all her teammates burst into a round of applause, the nearest rushing to embrace her.

Goalline drop out

Rugby league’s place in Wembley’s pecking order was obvious when Josh Thewlis kicked Warrington ahead on Saturday from an 18-yard line still clearly visible less than 18 hours after England had finished playing football there. Even though Spurs and Arsenal are better fits, the RFL’s deal with Wembley is too good to consider taking the final to another London stadium. It will return to Wembley on the same weekend next year.

Given Wigan and Warrington average around 25,000 between them and brought about double that to HA9, the 64,845 attendance was as large as can be expected, unless Leeds or Hull are involved. Four finals in one day reduces costs enormously and no standalone women’s final has drawn the near 10,000 who were inside for the second half at Wembley.

However, opportunity will soon knock to do something different. Old Trafford is going to have a long overdue overhaul, meaning the Super League Grand Final will need to move. As RL Commercial now oversees all three showpiece events, which rarely attract more than 200,000 fans combined, they will have to try elsewhere. The new Everton stadium is expected to host a Grand Final, with Manchester City’s Etihad campus – which has copious warm-up pitches and the RFL HQ – ideal for Magic. But those clubs have to actually want to host rugby league events, which Newcastle United did not this year.

Fifth and last

Despite not knowing how many IMG points other clubs will garner, Wakefield seem adamant they will be in Super League next season. Winning the 1895 Cup last Saturday took them another step closer. Every Trin fan physically and financially able to make it seemed to be there, with an impressive 6,000 gathered at the east end of the stadium as Daryl Powell’s hugely experienced side made light work of Mark Aston’s Sheffield Eagles. While Powell is expected to be a Super League coach again next season, Aston – his Sheffield teammate in their legendary 1998 Challenge Cup win – continues to do remarkable work with a small club punching way above its weight.

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