A Jake Thewlis try proved the difference as Warrington Wolves fought back for a 16-14 win against Leeds Rhinos in round six of Super League on a landmark night at the Halliwell Jones Stadium.
As Super League celebrated its 5,000th match since its inception in 1996, two of the competition’s giants put on a dramatic show that moves Warrington Wolves up to third in the table, with Leeds staying sixth with three wins and three losses.
It was Leeds who had the advantage at the break despite Warrington opening the scoring through a brilliant converted effort from Arron Lindop, the visitors’ breaking through via James McDonnell and Riley Lumb to take a 10-6 lead in at half-time.
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Palasia sees yellow for a high tackle on Lachlan Fitzgibbon
Leeds then extended their lead through Ryan Hall but Warrington hit back through a converted Stefan Ratchford try to reduce their deficit to two points.
The crucial moment then arrived as Keenan Palasia was sent to the sin bin for a high shot and Warrington immediately used their player advantage to send Thewlis over in the corner and mark themselves as the winners of the historic 5,000th Super League match.
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Jake Thewlis goes over in the corner as Warrington take advantage of Keenan Palasia’s sin-binning
Warrington keep fighting as Rhinos rue mistakes
The stage was set for a monumental 5,000th match and in the early stages both outfits delivered some electric attacking play that fit the bill.
It was Warrington winger Lindop who opened the scoring on the 12th minute, a sensational individual effort which saw him back his pace and collect his own chip to send the crowd and head coach Sam Burgess wild, Marc Sneyd adding the extras on his home debut to put Warrington 6-0 in front.
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Arron Lindop scores a spectacular try with a chip and chase to put Warrington ahead
However, it was only five minutes later that Leeds hit back with their left edge causing all sort of problems for Warrington, a Lumb break downfield ending with Connor sending an inside, and potentially forward, pass for McDonnell to walk over.
It was then the influential Connor who brought things level at 6-6 with his conversion and he was not done for the opening 40.
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James McDonnell and Leeds respond to Warrington taking the lead with a well-worked try
With both sides backing their forwards and being patient, Leeds’ dangerous left edge went from assisting to scoring on the 26th minute as, after Lumb was stopped short, Connor found him just a couple of tackles later with a stunning miss pass to increase the visitors’ advantage.
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Riley Lumb scores in the left-hand corner after being denied a try moments earlier
Despite both sides then chancing their arm, Leeds managed to stand firm and took their 10-6 lead in at the break.
Although Warrington started the second half on top, it was Leeds who found the pivotal moment to add some more points to their tally that also saw the ever-reliable Hall extend his lead at the top of the all-time Super League try-scoring charts with his 257th effort in the corner on his 501st career appearance, the diving finish coming after his own break through the middle of the field.
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Ryan Hall spectacularly dives over in the corner to put Leeds further ahead
That put the visitors 14-6 up with just under 30 minutes left of the contest but after a sustained period of pressure and a silly penalty from Tom Holroyd right on his own line, Warrington finally hit back.
A lovely Williams pass resulted in a fantastic stretching finish from stalwart Ratchford and with Sneyd’s conversion, there were just two points in it with 15 minutes left.
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Stefan Ratchford rolls and reaches to the tryline to get Warrington within a score of Leeds
The pressure on Leeds only increased further as they were reduced to 12 men with seven minutes remaining, Palasia catching Lachlan Fitzgibbon high and earning a yellow card for his efforts.
That player advantage immediately paid dividends as Matt Dufty sent Thewlis diving over in the corner and despite Sneyd missing the conversion, the two points was enough to secure another massive win for Warrington.
Burgess: We never gave in and I love our spirit
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Warrington Wolves head coach Sam Burgess gives him full-time thoughts
Warrington head coach Sam Burgess told Sky Sports:
“I was really proud of them. It was a really tough game, especially the first half. It slowed down a bit in the second half, but I love our spirit.
“It was quite a challenging start to the year and then we bounced back. The players are out of position, we’re missing all four outside backs from last week, and we never gave in.
“Some young boys took some moments and in the end we set that play during the week, and you could see they got it home in the last few minutes.
“I don’t know [if players will be back from injury soon]. We’ll enjoy this win tonight. We’ve got nine days [before facing St Helens in the Challenge Cup quarter-finals], which is nice.
“Since the start of the year we’ve had a lot of travel, short turnarounds, so we’ll rest up, check our healthiness on Monday and see where we go from there. Whoever takes the field, we’ll look forward to them doing the job.”
Arthur: Maybe I need to become a coach that whinges about referees
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Leeds Rhinos head coach Brad Arthur reacts to his team’s defeat and believed Palasia’s yellow for a high tackle was a harsh decision
Leeds head coach Brad Arthur told Sky Sports:
“Very heroic, the effort in defence, it was great, the physicality was great, we scrambled, worked really hard and just in the second half there, a couple of penalties and errors gave them a lot of field position and they had a lot of ball at our tryline.
“So we’ve got some things to work on but there’s definitely a team there. We’ve just got to tidy up a couple of bits and pieces.
“I’ve seen plenty of those already five rounds in [tackles unpunished like Palasia’s], so maybe as a coach I’ll need to complain more and whinge about the referee.
“We’ve worked really hard on our discipline and we can’t be the least penalised team in the competition throughout the first four or five games and then we come here tonight and get seven penalties in the second half.”
Wakefield continue impressive start with seven-try rout of Leigh
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Highlights of the Super League match between Leigh Leopards and Wakefield Trinity
Wakefield’s promising return to the Betfred Super League continued with an impressive 40-14 win at Leigh on Friday.
Mike McMeeken put Trinity on course for victory with two tries in a tight first half before two stunning length-of-the-field interception scores from Tom Johnstone put the result beyond doubt.
Olly Russell also claimed a brace while Liam Hood was another to touch down for the visitors, with Mason Lino converting six of the seven.
Wakefield have now won three from six in their first season back in the top flight while the Leopards, after launching their campaign with three wins and a draw, have now lost two in succession.
The result also meant the Yorkshire side landed a psychological blow on Leigh ahead of their meeting in the Challenge Cup quarter-finals next week.
Super League Round Six Fixtures (all live on Sky Sports)
Saturday March 29
- 5.30pm: Catalans Dragons vs St Helens
Sunday March 30
- 3pm: Huddersfield Giants vs Hull Kingston Rovers
- 3pm: Wigan Warriors vs Salford Red Devils
Sky Sports will again show every game of the Super League live this season – including two matches in each round exclusively live, with the remaining four matches each week shown on Sky Sports+ via the red button.
