Brian Carney: Good week for Wigan, bad week for Wolves, and Wakefield somewhere in between
Monday 13 March 2017 17:31, UK
Wigan thrashed Warrington 38-16 to maintain their unbeaten start to the season, while the Wolves remain without a win in Betfred Super League.
Elsewhere the Centurions thrashed the Giants, while Leeds returned to winning ways with a convincing victory over the Dragons.
A good week for Wigan and their young winger Liam Marshall.
The Warriors' victory over the Wolves was headlined by the escapades of the 20-year-old Marshall, but it was a team effort buttressed by the likes of Sean O'Loughlin and Liam Farrell, who are constants in terms of standards of play from Wigan.
Arriving at the Halliwell Jones on Thursday night, Shaun Wane was without Oliver Gildart, Sam Tomkins, Joe Burgess and Lewis Tierney, which made Wigan appear a little lean at the back.
But the performances of the two Liams - Marshall and Forsyth - as well as the terrific form of Morgan Escare ensured that Wigan's missing players weren't a talking point at the end of the night, which is a credit to the club.
Another credit to the club is the story of them arriving back at their training ground after the game. Wigan's policy is to always clean the team bus when it drops them off, and on this particular Thursday when the bus was pulling into the car park, up leapt Marshall.
After scoring four tries in a big Super League game on television, the young winger took it upon himself to grab a bin bag and lead the clean-up. That speaks volumes about the organisation as well as the individual.
It was a very good day for the Warriors, and all lines are pointing towards the mother of all battles against the Tigers on April 6 at the DW Stadium. Be sure to tune in for that one!
Good week for Wakefield, or was it?
Wakefield showed plenty of guts to win the game against Salford, and they had to do it twice too. They fought back for the eventual victory, and did so against a Salford team coming off a win against Warrington and who also had Ben Murdoch-Masila returning to their ranks.
Trinity withstood a late surge from the Red Devils to put themselves in the top eight of Super League, which is exactly where they want to be.
However, Michael Carter serving notice to leave Belle Vue means it wasn't overall a good week for Trinity - more on that below.
A good week for Leeds
I wasn't sure that Gary Hetherington's email was necessary, but the returning Rob Burrow, Tom Briscoe and Carl Ablett responded to it with such brute force against the Dragons that perhaps it worked.
Along with a stellar performance from the man in one of the most important positions in the field, hooker Matt Parcell, Leeds obliterated a Catalans side who are regressing to the level of performance that I expected of them this year.
Brian McDermott said afterwards that Leeds are targeting a spot in the Grand Final which some people scoffed at, but you don't have to be sprinting out the blocks from February to win Super League. All the Rhinos have to do is get to the top four, they've won it from out there before.
Bad week
Hard to imagine the start being much worse for Warrington
Wolves are now four games into the Super League season without a win. Last week Declan Patton was dropped and the incoming Harvey Livett did alright, but it was hard to find much sign of life in Warrington's most recent game.
We are led to believe that Chris Hill will be back this week. A lot is being pinned on the return of Hill who is talismanic for Tony Smith's side, but I'd suggest that the return of a prop forward isn't going to wholly change a team dynamic.
The answer to Wolves' problems lie with those involved in Thursday's game. The club are certainly good enough to find solutions to their current issues, and I certainly believe they will, but they need to do so quickly.
Speaking of which, there is good and bad news for Warrington this week. The good news is that they don't have to travel far for Thursday's game.
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The bad news is that they are going to Leigh in desperate need of a win, and they're playing a Centurions side who are full of confidence after thrashing Huddersfield 30-0.
A bad week for the Dragons - a hiding at Headingley.
Two wins in their opening two games had many crowing about the Dragons but their level of performance last week, as well as the absence of Greg Bird, was never going to be enough against a Rhinos side who gave themselves a huge shot in the arm with that win.
Bird, who was inspirational in their wins at the beginning of the season, is now out for a month, so Catalans will get a real look at what they are made of over the next few weeks.
They are visited this week by Saints who suffered a third consecutive defeat on Friday and in doing so are enduring their worst start to a season for some time. The pressure to get a win on Saturday evening in France will be almost unbearable, and I'm not sure who will be feeling it more.
A not-so-good week for Wakefield
While it was a good week for Trinity on the pitch, it was a bad week for the fans sitting on the side of the field reading the notes from chairman and owner Michael Carter in the match-day programme.
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Few owners have run their club more financially astutely than Michael Carter. He has arguably the toughest job in the league when it comes to finances, and does sterling work to secure the future of the club. A stadium is a big part of that, but for years the club and Michael Carter have been let down by broken promises of a new stadium.
He's threatened withdrawal from the Beaumont Legal Stadium before, but I get the feeling that he's a man at the end of his tether, and that this time he's serious.
All I can say is, I would encourage Wakefield fans who want to keep the professional rugby league club in their city to lobby the appropriate authorities, and ask that what was promised is delivered.
