SIX TALKING POINTS.......FROM SUPER LEAGUE ROUND 3.

Dom Manfredi

1.

Only two teams have a 100% record after round three and at the start of the season you would not have been surprised that one of those teams would be Wigan Warriors. However, it is clear that they are not playing well and they have struggled to put any of their games to bed and were lucky to get away with the win at home to Salford Red Devils on Thursday night. The Warriors held a comfortable 16-2 lead at one point but allowed the Red Devils to get back in the game and they got seriously lucky with the winning try.

If the video referee had been in place for this match there would have been questions raised over Tautai’s play the ball and also Dominic Manfredi’s finish in the corner.

The Warriors are not looking fluent in attack at the moment and it could have been a different story if the game had been televised or if Salford had not had an unscheduled 4 day turnaround after their tough league win over Widnes Viking the previous Sunday.

I must admit that I like the look of Salford, particularly Robert Lui and Ben Murdoch-Masila.

2.        

Chris Sandow scoring his second try.

Warrington Wolves are the second team with a 100% record after three rounds and they were never in trouble from the instant Ben Currie went 90m to score after a Wildcats error. He showed an impressive turn of speed for a big man and is a true athlete and one of my favourite players.

The Wildcats head coach Brian Smith bemoaned the 5 day turn around his side had after picking up their first win of the season at Hull KR last Sunday but he can be proud of his team’s performance – remember that they lost last year’s corresponding fixture 80-0 – after they trailed 24-6 at half time. They could easily have fallen away but held the Wolves 10-10 in the second half.

It is great to see that Chris Sandow is firing on all cylinders at the moment. He scored two tries against Wakefield including one cracking individual effort when he chipped and regathered and had a hand in two other tries as well. He might be worth a punt on the Man of Steel award if he can stay fit.

Denny Solomona scores against Hull FC.

3.

Hull FC lost their 100% record in a fantastic contest against Castleford Tigers. I have mentioned before that it is all about consistency for Hull FC and winning the tough close games against teams who will be challenging for the top 4 and there level of performance dropped off only slightly against the Tigers but it was enough to cost them the game.

I don’t think they should be too upset.

The Tigers played really well and bossed the game through half backs Luke Gale and Ben Roberts, who is really sparking into life this year, whilst the FC combination of Marc Sneyd and Leon Pryce struggled at times.

At 12-0 and 18-6 down in the first half FC would have gone into their shell and accepted defeat in 2015 but they are a different proposition this year and should be credited for making the Tigers work really hard for their two points.

Jamie Shaul and Danny Houghton were outstanding for FC whilst, in addition to their half backs, Tigers wingers Denny Solomona and Jy Hitchcox played really well and scored all 5 tries between them – Solomona with the hat trick taking him to 6 tries for the season. Hitchcox, an Australian signed from Featherstone Rovers, looked comfortably at home after being called in late on when Joel Monaghan dropped out injured.

Green and Burns let fly.

4.

Hull KR’s atrocious performance at home to Wakefield Trinity Wildcats last Sunday helped towards Head Coach Chris Chester losing his job last week and the Rovers fans really needed caretaker coach Willie Poching to lift his players to a higher level against St. Helens on Friday night.

He certainly achieved that, particularly in the first half, but they lost their way when Albert Kelly left the field injured just before half time.

Kelly looks likely to miss this weekend’s trip to leaders Widnes Vikings, another injury blow to an already severely weakened squad and they could also be without in form prop James Green who has been charged for punching Travis Burns and could face a two match ban.

Former Rovers captain Burns faces the same charge for the punch up with Green – a simmering feud which was carried over from last year’s fixture when Green was responsible for Burns fracturing his cheekbone.

The Robins led a poor St. Helens side 16-10 at the break and could have had a bigger lead as a dubious video referee decision cost Ryan Shaw a try on his full debut in the corner.

The on field referee, Phil Bentham, called it up as a no try on the say so of his touch judge who thought that Shaw had a foot in touch. The replay clearly showed he did not but then the video referee, James Child, decided that there was a small amount of separation between Shaw’s hand and the ball as he touched down and because Bentham had called it as a no try it was easy for Child to turn the try down – it was a crucial decision.

Saints improved in the second half as Rovers started to make too many errors and concede too many penalties but there is no question that the Saints are struggling at the moment and whether they are good enough to make the top 4 remains to be seen.

The Coal Train in action.

5.

I feel as though I can’t stop writing about this guy at the moment but ‘The Coal Train’ David Taylor put in a his best performance so far against defending champions Leeds Rhinos on Saturday night. He was virtually unstoppable, scoring two tries and being a real handful throughout the match – he really is a joy to watch. His performance overshadowed the return to Super League of Willie Mason, who was solid if not spectacular whilst fellow Aussie recruit Glenn Stewart made a massive 56 tackles.

The Dragons came back well from their poor showing against Hull FC and could have tied the game up a lot quicker having led 24-8 early in the second half.

The Rhinos showed good spirit and played much better than they have this season and even though they remain bottom of the league after round 3, they will be hopeful of getting off the mark at the weekend against the only other team without a point so far this season, Huddersfield Giants.

Kevin Brown - England class?

6.

Whilst Huddersfield Giants are struggling, like Hull KR they have a skinny squad and plenty of injuries, the Widnes Viking went back to the top of the table with a comfortable 36-18 win at the Giants.

Vikings skipper Kevin Brown was on top form and Corey Thompson joined Solomona at the top of the try scoring charts – two tries taking his total to 6 as well.

Denis Betts stated that Kevin Brown was good enough for an England call up – there is absolutely no doubt about that but I’m afraid it is unlikely to happen.

A Brown and Danny Brough half back pairing for England would be better than anything we have now in my mind and it will be interesting to see if new England coach Wayne Bennett has a chat with Brough at some point.

Despite Brough being back in the Giants line up they are really struggling at the moment and need to get a few more bodies back before they look to compete for a top 4 place which is what they would have expected to achieve at the start of the season.