Steve Price: Our headspace was in other areas

Warrington coach Steve Price hinted that some of his players were already thinking of their trip to Wembley in their defeat at Castleford.

The Wolves went down to a 28-18 defeat against the Tigers in the second round of the Super 8s at the Mend-A-Hose Jungle on Friday night.

Warrington face Catalans Dragons in the Challenge Cup final at Wembley next weekend, and Price hinted that his players were already thinking of their final in their Super 8s game against Castleford.

Speaking after the game, he said: “We had to move a few players around due to losing Mitch Brown and Tyrone Roberts early but it clearly showed that our headspace was in other areas tonight.

“There were periods in the second half which was in our DNA but it was a disappointing display on our behalf.

“It was one of those games where we weren’t at the races and a few players had a different mentality to what we have had this year.

“We have had good mentality this year but it wasn’t there tonight so we will dust ourselves off and we will look forward to the Challenge Cup final next week.”

Price picked out Ireland internationals Joe Philbin and George King out for praise though.

He added: “I thought there were a couple of good display from our boys.

“Joe Philbin was sensational and George King gave us a boost when he came off the bench and was good when he started the game.”

Mitch Brown left the field on a stretcher in the first half with a dislocated knee and his season is expected to be over.

Tyrone Roberts failed a concussion assessment at half-time but Price revealed that there is no seriousness in the injury. Roberts should be okay to play in the Challenge Cup final next Saturday.