Warrington Wolves v St Helens: Three key battles
Friday 5 May 2017 23:03, UK
Three key battles as Warrington host St Helens in the Betfred Super League on Friday night, live on Sky Sports 2.
Both sides are missing England players as Wayne Bennett's team take on Samoa Down Under. So who will have an impact in this Super League battle?
We look at three key battles...
Jack Hughes v Jon Wilkin
Warrington have been light in the back row this season. Ben Currie's injury is well publicised, while Ben Westwood has been missing since Round 8 after suspension for striking Leeds' Liam Sutcliffe, and now Tony Smith says Joe Westerman has suffered a recurrence of the pinched nerve in his neck that kept him out over Easter.
However, Jack Hughes has been one ever-present this season, and he's been filling in with Frenchman Benjamin Jullien in the second row recently. Warrington need the former Wigan player to step up again on Friday.
Hughes is known for his work rate, and he's certainly offered that for Tony Smith again in 2017. His 380 tackles are the second best in Warrington colours, just one behind back row partner Westerman.
He's also put his hands up for work in attack; 141 carries behind only Matty Russell in the rankings, and that's for a total of 950 metres. More graft like that needed come Friday night.
If the Saints are to turn around their season and compete in the business end of the campaign, they'll need a captain's knock from Jon Wilkin for the rest of 2017. Wilkin has been his usual versatile self throughout the year, featuring in the second row, at No 13 and in the halves for his side.
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His last three games have been in the No 12 position though, and he's certainly been putting in a shift. Wilkin's 468 tackles are head and shoulders above any other Saints player; 185 more than second best Luke Douglas, and it's also the best figure in Super League - 29 more than Leeds' Matt Parcell. Impressive stuff from the skipper.
But he's also an important cog in the Saints attack, not just with ball-in-hand (four try assists so far), but also with the boot (31 attacking kicks), proving his worth in both aspects of the game. More of the same needed from Wilkin.
Declan Patton v Matty Smith
Declan Patton is some talent, but it's not been easy going in 2017 for the young half-back.
Warrington's try scorer in last season's Grand Final seemed to have the world at his feet going into the new campaign, but he found himself on the sidelines after just three rounds this year. However, Patton returned for the win over Leeds, and then started the subsequent three victories that followed, playing a part in the Wolves' revival.
Tony Smith fielded Patton, Kurt Gidley and Kevin Brown against Hull FC, but they were well beaten. Brown has been called up by England this weekend, meaning Patton is likely to resume his partnership with Gidley against the Saints.
He's got three try assists so far this season and one try, but has taken more open-play kicking responsibility than his half-back rivals, putting in 45 attacking kicks, more than both Brown and Gidley. Will Patton impress against the Saints on Friday night?
Matty Smith will be watching Luke Gale closely this weekend. The Castleford scrum-half is the benchmark so far for Super League half-backs and he'll likely fill the No 7 jersey against Samoa.
But in a World Cup year, Smith will be eager to prove to Wayne Bennett he's not out of the picture.
It was a slow start for Smith in Saints colours; that broken leg a big setback in hitting the ground running on his return. Just two try assists have followed, though he's taken control of St Helens' kicking game, putting in 43 attacking kicks, 12 more than any other team-mate.
Smith's partnership with George Williams was crucial in firing Wigan to Grand Final glory last season. Will he do the same for the Saints with Theo Fages this year?
Tom Lineham v Adam Swift
Tom Lineham hasn't found his time at Warrington particularly easy. He was dropped last season after his move from Hull FC before coming back to score 14 tries. But his big-money move certainly attracted a few doubters in the off-season.
However, there's been improvement from Lineham in Super League XXII. He's missed two games through suspension, but has otherwise started every game. There's no doubting his try-scoring ability; he's the side's top scorer with seven in this campaign, including a crucial late winner against Wakefield two weeks ago.
And he's also impressive with ball in hand, making 1010 metres at an average gain of 7.77m a drive. He has also bust 17 tackles and made eight clean breaks - the most of any Warrington player - which proves what a danger he can be. But will Lineham be able to breach the St Helens defence come Friday night?
With Mark Percival heading Down Under, St Helens will be a few tries short in their attack come Friday night, but they'll look to the partnership of Ryan Morgan and Adam Swift on the other side of the pitch to come up with the ammunition.
Swift is Saints' second-best try scorer with five tries, having played 11 of their 12 games so far. A reasonable return then, but Swift has some way to go to matching his tally of 17 in 2016, the best of any Saints player in the last campaign.
He's carried well with the ball this season; 1324 metres from 170 carries ranks him second in the St Helens side, and that's at an average of 7.79m a run.
With youngster Regan Grace impressing on the other wing, Swift needs to keep standards high to keep his place confirmed in the side.
Warrington Wolves: Ryan Atkins, Daryl Clark, Mike Cooper, Dominic Crosby, Brad Dwyer, Rhys Evans, Kurt Gidley, Jack Hughes, Benjamin Jullien, George King, Tom Lineham, Harvey Livett, Declan Patton, Joe Philbin, Matty Russell, Andre Savelio, Ashton Sims, Morgan Smith, Ben Westwood.
St Helens: Kyle Amor, Luke Douglas, Theo Fages, Regan Grace, Morgan Knowles, Tommy Lee, Tommy Makinson, Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Ryan Morgan, Dominique Peyroux, Greg Richards, James Roby, Matty Smith, Jake Spedding, Adam Swift, Zeb Taia, Luke Thompson, Adam Walker, Jon Wilkin.
