Monday 3 April 2017 17:58, UK
Brian Carney casts his eye over the latest round of the Betfred Super League and picks out the winners and losers.
Good week for two of the Ws
Warrington's match against Hull was a high-pressure game, and with a minute to play in the first half the Wolves were 20-4 down.
If I was being generous I'd say Warrington were very poor in that first - if I was being fair I would say they were terrible. Matty Russell scored a really good try in the 14th minute but other than that it was a forgettable first 39 minutes from the Wolves.
Then Russell scored again just before half-time, which made it 20-8 at the break with Warrington down on luck, down on confidence, and 12 points down against a side on the other end of the table.
Then at the start of the second half, George King - a man whose first-half performance mirrored Warrington's start to the season in unforced errors - was given the ball directly from kick-off. King went on a defence-splitting run from which he never looked back, and neither did Warrington as they staged a comeback to earn a draw.
In fact, at the end of the game it was Hull who held on while the Wolves look set to snatch a win, which is not something you could say about any of their other losses. It's too soon to say that Wolves are back, but that second half was far closer to the Warrington we expected to see in 2017.
As for Widnes, Denis Betts bemoaned the fact that the majority of his salary cap was sitting in the stands in the game against Leigh on Saturday.
They had a debutant on the bench in a game in which you'd be expecting the Centurions to come out angry after throwing away two points against Wakefield.
Despite Leigh's motivation, the game belonged to Widnes from start to finish. Betts has asserted that his side is now coming good. They've got a draw in Perpignan and a win over Leigh under their belts and still plenty of players to come back. The Vikings will be targeting Easter as their period to push towards top-eight safety.
Good week for Watkins
I love watching this guy. When Kallum Watkins shows us the top of his capabilities - the 2015 vintage - he's an absolute pleasure to observe from the stands.
Few move better than the 26-year-old on the field, but we've seen all too little of it recently; in attack he's been quiet and in defence he's been poor.
I spoke to some of the guys who were in the youth system with Watkins and they told me that in defence he hits as hard as the forwards, so he has real sting about him - but if you watched him at the beginning of the season you wouldn't have guessed it.
That is until last Friday's game against the Warriors, where Watkins was back to his best.
When Kevin Sinfield was our guest at the beginning of the season he said that sometimes you have to tell Kallum that he wants the ball because occasionally he waits for things to happen. His try against Wigan showed what he is capable of when he utilises his speed and agility on the front foot.
He hasn't just been about the dazzling stuff though - Watkins made 17 tackles against the Warriors so there was plenty of traffic heading his way, but he still managed to make 177 metres with the ball as well as two line breaks and four offloads.
You want superstars in your game, and Kallum Watkins is every bit a superstar.
Good week for another pair of Ws
Another W making it into this week's positives is Wakefield, whose win over the Dragons in Perpignan went a long way to putting them into a good position to secure their Super League status next year. There's a long season ahead, but they're ticking along well.
The fifth (and final!) W for the week is Ian Watson, whose Red Devils earned a vital victory over St Helens which puts them fourth in the standings.
It wasn't just the result that impressed, the manner of the victory was impressive in itself. If Salford's current run of results doesn't end in strong attendances it will be a travesty.
Ian Watson and the team deserve a lot of credit for the way they're playing and the results they are achieving - the hard work is certainly paying dividends.
Bad week for crusher tackles
I don't want to pre-empt the match review panel and their disciplinary review in any way, but I'm asked to comment on these incidents and events and I believe they - both arms of our judicial system - are independent and fair enough to not be swayed by things that I say or that are written in newspapers.
With that said, I want to talk about crusher tackles. You've heard it before: 'rugby league is a tough game played by tough people'. I agree. It is a tough enough game without some "genius" bringing wrestling techniques in that not only paralyse any speed in the ruck ('clever' bending of the rules and spirit of the game if I'm generous) but overwhelmingly more importantly have a very real prospect of seriously injuring a player.
Anything that would put pressure deliberately or recklessly on the neck of the opponent, in an attempt to stifle that opponent's progress and render him helpless with fear, needs to be stamped out immediately with a punishment that goes a long way to ensuring players don't go down that path again.
Career-ending injuries to the knees or ankles are horrendous. Life-debilitating injuries - we need ZERO tolerance from coaches, players and the game's policy-makers. I await the findings with interest, with the reminder that every player is entitled to a full and fair review of an incident.
Laurent Frayssinous
Ahead of the game against Wakefield last Saturday, the Dragons had three losses and a draw in the south of France this season.
They took a 14-0 lead against Widnes, and the game ended in a draw. They took a 14-0 lead against the Tigers, and ended up getting beaten convincingly.
I don't buy that it's the absence of Greg Bird that is contributing to the slump - what they dished up against a very good Wakefield side won't be good enough for them to secure a top-eight finish this year.
Frayssinous will have struggled to find any positive in that game. And Tom Johnstone bombed a couple of tries, so that scoreline could have been even worse
People started falling in love with the Dragons after they beat Warrington and Hull at the beginning of the season, but the French love affair appears to be over after a draw and four losses in their last five games.
Up next they have the Centurions, and the Leigh Sports Village is not the kind of place you want to visit for a must-win game.
Sky customers can now upgrade to Sky Sports and get 12 months for just £18 per month. Upgrade now!
