Ben Westwood: I can’t kick Warrington to a Wembley win this year
Photo courtesy of Richard Long
Warrington forward Ben Westwood said he needs to get his kicking boots on again, or just pack goal-kicking in all together ahead of their trip to Wembley!
The Wolves cruised past Leeds Rhinos 48-12 in the Challenge Cup semi-finals at the University of Bolton Stadium on Sunday.
Westwood tried to get Warrington to 50 points by converting Tom Lineham’s last-minute try, but it went wide from bang in front of the sticks!
The 37-year-old, who has previously kicked 80 goals for Warrington, said he won’t be kicking when the Wolves face Catalans Dragons in the final at Wembley!
He told loverugbyleague.com: “I stepped up to the ball and Tyrone [Roberts] asked if I wanted to kick it and the crowd were cheering like mad, so I stepped up to take it.
“The crowd were electric and within seconds I went from being up here to down here. I like to think that it was down to lack of practice!
“I’ve kicked us to win at Wembley before, but I’m not sure that I’ll be able to do it this year. I should have concentrated a bit more because I just whacked it, and spooned it!
“I think it was great to have a double header. I think it was a great idea because we had a sell-out crowd and it made the atmosphere better. It was the first time I played at Bolton, but I really enjoyed it and it was a good convincing win to top it off.”
Warrington have a great love affair with the Challenge Cup and this year will be the fifth time in 10 years that they have reached Wembley.
Westwood has played in their previous four finals and feels very fortunate to be going again.
He said: “It was a good day, we executed our gameplan very well.
“We laid some foundations for our backs to score some tries and we are going back to Wembley now and I’m really looking forward to it.
“It will be my fifth time going to Wembley as a player. There was a time when I got to being 29 and I thought that I haven’t got anywhere in my career and then all of a sudden, these finals have all come at once.
“The finals are great days, but we’ve got a couple of weeks before it comes but it’s one I’ll be really looking forward to.”
