Set of Six: Wakefield's win and how to show respect to Sam Burgess
Last Updated: 11/04/16 10:58pm
Wakefield demolish Wigan, Catalans remaining calm and the best way to show respect to Sam Burgess make this week's list.
Wakefield stun Wigan
On Sunday we saw the win of the year so far as Wakefield hammered Wigan 62-0 at Belle Vue.
The Wildcats ran in 11 tries to record their biggest ever Super League win over the Warriors, surpassing a 40-14 success in 2006, while Wigan's defeat was their worst in the league since a 70-0 rout by Leeds in 2005.
All credit to their attack but a word to their defence as well - in the last five minutes of the game they were under a fair bit of pressure. Obviously they weren't going to lose the game at that stage but Wakefield's willingness to do everything to not concede a try was admirable.
Confidence booster
St Helens are well on the road back to their best after their 25-22 win at Super League leaders Warrington.
Saints have certainly played better but this was a major confidence booster for Keiron Cunningham's men. They have not had the best of starts to the season and many were calling this a 'fragile' Saints side, however they showed their character by beating the Wolves at Haliwell Jones.
"All credit to the players," said Cunningham after the match. "Everyone was telling them all week that they can't win these games, but we have been very good for three weeks now and we are building into something.
"We have got a few people injured - we have got about eight or nine starting players [out] - so once we trickle them back in and we keep playing with momentum, we will be a force.
"Everyone on the field was outstanding. There was a lot of pride in our shirt today. We had a lot of points to prove and I thought we did that really well."
Fantastic Fages
One of those players to play with plenty of pride was Theo Fages who was outstanding for St Helens.
The French half-back's distribution was superb and should be the man on which Saints can build a team around for many a year.
Cunningham again: "Without singing his praises too much, when we initially signed Theo or got the opportunity to sign him it was on the pretence that I told the chairman that he would be your number 7 for the next 14-15 years if you could afford to keep him."
All calm at Catalans
The Dragons recorded their fifth win in succession and fourth on the road this season by thrashing Hull Kingston Rovers 40-0 at the KC Lightstream Stadium on Thursday.
With five successive wins for the first time since 2008, they are now just two points adrift of league leaders Warrington Wolves, but coach Laurent Frayssinous says they will remain calm and stay humble.
"We have looked good since the pre-season, but we don't want to see too far. We want to keep on building, keep on staying humble," said Frayssinous.
"We all know the Super League season is very hard and long, so we don't want to be worried about that [the league table] and we want to keep on performing on the field."
Depth in strength
Hull FC owner Adam Pearson has come out and said that Lee Radford's position as Hull FC coach was not under pressure during their losing streak earlier in the season. A good thing too as Hull are firing on all cylinders as they piled more misery onto Huddersfield.
What Hull have shown recently is their strength in depth which could very well hold them in good stead as they bid for their first Grand Final appearance since 2006.
The performance of Carlos Tuimavave was excellent and the likes of Leon Pryce, Gareth Ellis and Mark Minichiello were hardly missed - imagine what they will do when they get back!
Respect for Slammin' Sam
Dylan Napa has all the respect in the world for Sam Burgess and there is only one way to show that respect in league - hit them hard!
Napa was in fine form for Sydney Roosters as they beat South Sydney 17-10 on Friday night with the Roosters hitman getting in some real rib-ticklers on Burgess.
"I respect Sam Burgess and the way he plays so much," Napa told the Sydney Morning Herald.
"I was so disappointed when he left for rugby union. I think he left as one of the best forwards in the game so I thought it was a bit of respect to go at him tonight [Friday] and I wanted to get a bit of respect off him and do what is best for our team."
