Super League Throwbacks: Warrington vs St Helens, Leeds vs Catalans
Wednesday 7 August 2019 14:06, UK
Ahead of this week's Super League fixtures live on Sky Sports, rugby league researcher Ian Proctor looks at some previous meetings between the sides and picks out some memorable moments.
April 24, 2000: Warrington 34-47 St Helens
Sean Long was at his imperious best when St Helens visited Wilderspool as reigning champions at the turn of the century. He helped them turn things around after Warrington had led 22-16 at half-time following tries from Lee Penny, Tawera Nikau and Steve Blakeley.
The genial Long contributed 26 points, with two tries and nine goals, in Saints' 47-34 victory as they extended their winning sequence against the Wolves to nine matches since Super League's inception in 1996.
While Long orchestrated everything, having opened the scoring with a typical third-minute try, it was the mighty Saints pack that drove them to victory with Apollo Perelini, Fereti Tuilagi and Sonny Nickle powering over for tries that saw the score blow out.
Referee Russell Smith had his hands full from start to finish, Warrington's Toa Kohe-Love being placed on report for a first-minute high tackle - Saints prop Julian O'Neill following suit and Chris Joynt and Lee Penny later being sin-binned.
May 22, 2004: Warrington 20-50 St Helens
Saints' first meeting with the Wolves at the Halliwell Jones Stadium came one month after they had qualified for the 2004 Cup Final with the 46-6 semi-final defeat of Huddersfield at the Warrington venue.
And they produced another spellbinding performance that brought runaway victory, scoring 50 points on a visit to Warrington for the first time following 40-point wins there in 1998, 2000 and 2002.
On a gloriously sunny afternoon, Saints produced football to match the weather with Ian Millward's team in sublime form against Paul Cullen's Wolves. Fleet-footed Darren Albert scored three of the nine tries for Saints, Jon Wilkin and Keiron Cunningham were also among the scorers and Sean Long contributed a try and seven goals.
June 24, 2011: Warrington 35-28 St Helens
It took 12 attempts for Warrington to finally get the better of Saints in a home game following the 2004 move from Wilderspool to the Halliwell Jones Stadium. When it came, the manner of it pointed the way towards the club's first table-topping season of the summer era.
Tony Smith's Wolves side came out top, 35-28, in a pulsating, see-sawing contest that produced 11 exhilarating tries in the pouring rain.
Warrington tore into an 18-0 lead inside the opening 15 minutes, yet Saints produced a typical comeback to hold the advantage, 22-18, at half-time. A try from James Graham instigated the fightback and Tony Puletua finished with two tries in a tremendous performance.
The Wolves scored three tries in 10 minutes to lead by 12 points but they were ultimately grateful for Lee Briers' drop-goal that kept his former club at bay. And Brett Hodgson was magnificent, scoring the crucial try and producing a superb all-round kicking display that included five goals.
Live Betfred Super League
Live Betfred Super League
October 2, 2009: Leeds 27-20 Catalans
Leeds selected Catalans to travel to Headingley, under the controversial 'Club Call' procedure, knowing the Dragons would be seeking their first Headingley win in the quest for an inaugural Grand Final appearance.
The Rhinos were hell-bent on winning at Old Trafford for the third consecutive year and there was an equally compelling reason for winning. The club was paying their respects to John Holmes, Leeds' legendary appearance holder who had died at 57 during the week of the semi-final.
In the circumstances it was fitting that one of Holmes' successors in the stand-off role, Danny McGuire, should prove the match-winner in the 27-20 home victory. McGuire opened the try-scoring in classic style and Leeds effectively settled the contest when skipper Kevin Sinfield set up three tries in a five minute spell just before half-time, his drop-goal proving vital.
But Catalans refused to concede defeat, driven on by Greg Bird and Adam Mogg, while Vincent Duport had the distinction of scoring three tries in vain.
August 20, 2010: Leeds 52-6 Catalans
Bottom-of-the-table Catalans were seeking their first win on their sixth visit to Headingley in 2010.
But they were never remotely in the hunt as Leeds' two leading try-scorers of the Super League era produced hat-tricks to inflict a 52-6 defeat upon Kevin Walters' struggling side.
Ryan Hall and Danny McGuire were in red-hot form and each scored two tries as Leeds stormed to a 34-6 half-time lead, Casey McGuire responding with the only try for Catalans.
Hall was first to complete his hat-trick, after 48 minutes, and McGuire followed suit 14 minutes later. But that was the ninth and last of Leeds' tries as the Dragons found a degree of resolve in the final quarter.
September 20, 2014: Leeds 20-24 Catalans
After 10 straight defeats at Headingley, Catalans finally ended their hoodoo on the ground and made progress towards Old Trafford in the play-offs.
Desperately unlucky to lose 32-31 on their previous visit to Leeds, three months earlier, the Dragons were determined to make progress. And they owed their historic victory to a dramatic late try from Sam Williams after Tom Briscoe's handling error on his own line.
The Rhinos led 14-6 at the interval after tries from Carl Ablett and Kallum Watkins but Catalans responded and went 18-14 in front when back-rowers Zeb Taia and Louis Anderson crossed for touchdowns.
Leeds looked to have won it, 13 minutes from time, when a glorious 10-man handling move yielded a try for Jamie Jones-Buchanan. But the outcome was settled in favour of Laurent Frayssinous's side with seconds remaining as Williams' second try made it 24-20 to the jubilant Dragons.
