The Good
Catalans capped off a successful Easter with a 39-6 mauling of Salford yesterday. The Dragons knocked off Huddersfield last week, making it two from two for the Gallic outfit. That’s now three wins in row since they snapped a five-game winless run against Leigh. Catalans had wobbled without Greg Bird and a handful of others, but have climbed off the canvas to hit some form. Tony Gigot’s return after an ill-fated drugs suspension has made a big difference, the fullback crossing for a try in the victory over the Red Devils.
Wigan avenged their embarrassing 60-0 defeat at Belle Vue last year to down Wakefield 16-10. It was a close-run contest on Easter Monday, with Liam Marshall’s winning try sealing the result with three minutes. Marshall just keeps on scoring, and fellow flyer Tom Davies is also doing well in his debut season. Where will Lewis Tierney fit back in, with both young wingers impressing and Morgan Escare on fire at fullback? A nice dilemma for Shaun Wane.
A note to St Helens as well for knocking off league leaders Castleford. With their coach sacked and a loss to Wigan last week, few expected Saints to upset the Tigers on their home patch. But that’s what they did in a gutsy effort and one that will give interim coaches Long, Lolesi and Traynor plenty to smile about. And Warrington are finally giving their fans something to cheer with three consecutive victories lifting them off the bottom of the table.
The Bad
Widnes injury count just got worse with Danny Craven, Lloyd White and Tom Armstrong picking up tries in the defeat to Leeds. Craven has a spiral fracture, which could put him out for six to eight weeks, while White pulled a hamstring. Armstrong has a suspected MCL tear in his near, which means one to two months. There is no light at the end of the tunnel for the Vikings right now.
Wakefield tried hard but fell short against Wigan. It was two pretty straight-forward tries they conceded in the first half that proved to be their undoing. The first saw Sean O’Loughlin go through four players on his way to the line. Trinity’s try-line defence has to be better than that. The second involving George Williams dancing and skipping across the line, before he turned and found Morgan Escare racing forward in support. Escare broke through and stepped Simon Grix to score. Again Wakefield’s defence switched off and allowed Williams to roam free, which is asking for trouble considering the freakish form he’s in. Certainly, the one that got away for Wakey.
3 year contract extension ✔️
2 Easter wins ✔️
1 great try 👇
Krisnan Inu should count his lucky stars he was not sin-binned for lifting Josh Jones and dumping the Salford man on his head. The Catalans centre was only penalised for what was a very dangerous piece of play. This was just not good enough from the referee who should have had his cards out.
The Ugly
Widnes’ marker defence for Tom Briscoe’s try in the first half at Headingley was horrendous. It was a critical point in the game with the score 24-6 right before half-time. Briscoe was at dummy half about five metres from the try-line. Patrick Ah Van raced straight from marker to no one, opening the path for Briscoe to skip past Charly Runicman for an easy try. It was a schoolboy error from Ah Van, inexcusable and indefensible. Denis Betts would have been pulling his hair out.
