Warrington Wolves player ratings in Hull KR defeat: Williams woeful, Walker lively, Forward pack outclassed

Warrington were beaten 22-4 on home soil by Hull KR on Friday evening in a crucial clash at the top of the Super League table, with the Robins now occupying pole position.

The Wolves found themselves 10-0 down at the break after tries from Sauaso ‘Jesse’ Sue and Tyrone May, and never managed to recover.

Mikey Lewis went over in the second half for the visitors to seal victory, with ex-Wire man Peta Hiku crashing over for the Robins late on.

Here are our Warrington player ratings from the press box at the Halliwell Jones Stadium…

Matt Dufty – 5

Full-back Dufty wasn’t quick enough to get up in the air and challenge May as he grabbed the opener, but was lively after that. His scampering run earned Warrington a penalty in KR’s half which they couldn’t make anything of, and he picked Matty Ashton out well for Wire’s only try of the night.

Josh Thewlis – 5

Thewlis lost the flight of the ball and got away with one in the first half as Oliver Gildart saw a try disallowed, and he was then outjumped by Ryan Hall as Lewis got over for KR’s crucial second half try. In-between, the Wire winger had been unlucky to see. try of his own ruled out, showing lightning quick pace to get over under pressure before a knock-on was given against the hosts.

0/1 with the boot

Rodrick Tai – 4

Tai didn’t execute well enough on the night. He created one of their best chances of the second half with a nice spin out of a challenge, but was then brought down 10 metres short. And in the second half, he let KR off big style in trying to force a pass out wide for Thewlis to ground, knocking on as he did so. Poor decision making.

Arron Lindop – 4

Young Lindop has been the man of the moment over the last few weeks for Warrington, but a really tough, physical defensive showing from KR was enough to keep him quiet. He saw a lot of the ball, but wasn’t able to do a lot with it, and knocked on in the first tackle of a set which started in the Robins’ half in the second 40.

At that point, Wire were 10-4 down and pressing for a potentially game-levelling score. Instead, two minutes later, Lewis had got over to make it 16-4.

Matty Ashton – 7

Ashton was – for us – Wire’s best performer, and not because he was the man that got their try. As he normally does, the winger looked lively throughout, and was the one man in primrose and blue constantly making metres when he had the ball in hand. A bright spark in a poor showing overall.

George Williams – 5

Williams is instrumental in everything that Warrington do, and there were some bright moments from the playmaker on Friday night, but more went wrong than went right for him. Kicks in-game were wayward, he lost the ball in his own half on the hour-mark, and KR kept him as quiet as they possibly could.

Josh Drinkwater – 5

Half-back partner Drinkwater’s in-game kicking was equally poor, consistently finding the hands of a Robins defender rather than the turf. He started brightly in the second half, earning a penalty and forcing a knock on, but – along with most of his team-mates – petered out as the game wore on.

Luke Yates – 7

Yates is yet to disappoint in a Warrington shirt, one of the few bright sparks in a disappointing defeat. So desperately unlucky to have a knock on given against him for the Thewlis try which got disallowed, but that tackle epitomises everything about the prop – an out and out powerhouse. At one point, he side-stepped a KR defender near the line, too. Not many did that in a Wire shirt…

Sam Powell – 5

A bit of a ‘nondescript’ performance from Powell, whose stint lasted around 25 minutes. In that time, there were few memorable moments from the experienced hooker, neither good nor bad.

Paul Vaughan – 5

You’re never left wanting for effort where Vaughan’s concerned, but ultimately, KR won the battle of the packs on Friday night, and there will be moments he and his fellow forwards are disappointed with when they review the footage. Two big stints from him, but just not enough overall.

Matty Nicholson – 4

For the first time in a long time, we were left disappointed by Nicholson. Perhaps it’s the levels he’s hit consistently throughout this year that have set our expectations so high, but he was kept out of the game by KR. The young back-rower dropped the ball 20 metres from KR’s line in the first half, and from that came the disallowed Gildart try at the other end. Sub-par.

Adam Holroyd – 5

Holroyd realistically falls into the same category, and the only thing that’s spurred him the same rating is we saw a bit more desire from him. The youngster’s head never seemed to drop, unlike some team-mates, and he helped to earn a goal-line drop out on the half-hour mark having been brought down just short of the line two tackles earlier. Wire didn’t capitalise from moments like that.

Ben Currie – 5

Another nondescript performance from a Warrington forward with Currie, who had two stints out on the field but couldn’t inspire anything. He wasn’t on his own.

Interchanges

Zane Musgrove – 4

Musgrove came on for Yates just after Warrington’s try, and within two minutes, he’d conceded a cheap penalty to allow the visitors easy metres down the field. The most notable moment from the interchange came with a huge hit on Dean Hadley late on, but soon after that, he’d been brought back off. Not the impact boss Burgess would have wanted from him.

Jordy Crowther – 5

Crowther was another lost in the mix of the forward battle, whose effort was – and is always – unquestionable, but execution was nowhere near the levels needed in a top-of-the-table clash like Friday night’s. That Wire pack will do some reflecting over these next few days.

Danny Walker – 6

Walker came on 25 minutes in for Powell, and stayed on the field until the end of the game. He was never going to be taken off, because he was one of very few who looked like they could make something happen for the Wolves. His superb 40/20 created hope late on, but the hooker then dropped the ball in the resulting set. That felt a big moment.

John Bateman – 5

A disappointing Warrington debut for Bateman, who will no doubt enjoy better nights than this before the end of the season comes. He came on midway through the first half and got stuck straight in, as you’d have expected, but very little came of the effort he put in. His experience will be important in that dressing room for the run in though, you feel.