They have always known how to put a show on in this part of the world, and the opening night of the new Super League season was no different. Chart-toppers The Lathums were booked to play pre-match while England’s strongest man, Paul Smith, attempted to set a world record at half-time. But they only really care about one thing in this town, and there can be no escaping that last year Warrington’s players failed to match the fanfare the club often generates off the field.
How Daryl Powell and his players took an emphatic first step towards putting that right here, though. It is only the opening night and as such, it’s difficult to read anything too conclusive into what Warrington’s prospects may look like. But one thing is for certain: their supporters will expect, if not demand, more than what they got last year, when they limped to an 11th-place finish in Powell’s first season in charge.
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You can only really do one thing on the opening night, and that is win. Warrington did that, and they did it in some style. Any nerves the home support had regarding a hangover from last year were eliminated by half-time, with the hosts leading 30-0 against a Leeds side who not only had no answer for their opponents, but were woefully under par. However, the credit should lie with Warrington after a near-faultless first half.
The tone was set within five minutes as Matt Dufty finished a scintillating move, before a try from Daryl Clark doubled Warrington’s lead and underlined the difference between the two sides as he bounced off some timid Leeds defence. By the break the hosts had powered over the top of Leeds on a relentless basis and added further tries from Danny Walker, Josh Thewlis and Sam Kasiano. Leeds had no answer, and Warrington were outstanding.
“As a whole team performance, that first-half performance was as good as you’re going to see. I’m really pleased,” Powell said. “The way pre-season has gone, you know when you’re walking into a changing room and can sense there’s a real focus among a group of men. And I get that in this changing room with these guys.”
Arguably the only thing more physical than Warrington’s pack was the strongman Smith, whose attempts to carry 300kg of dead weight ended in failure. The same couldn’t be said for the home side, who were just too strong for Leeds. The visitors quite simply failed to turn up on opening night, although as they will know from last year, when they went from relegation candidates to Grand Finalists in just a few months, this is a marathon season; one defeat does not define it.
But as opening performances go, this was as disappointing as it gets. “We started a little slow on the physical stakes and the class of the opposition’s spine capitalised on the momentum their big guys got,” their coach, Rohan Smith, said. “Even at times where we made a tackle and the ball hit the ground, it was one of those days where the ball bounced the other way. That was probably due to us not being purposeful enough at times. You can read into round one, but you can read too much into it too.”
Leeds did manage to stem the tide somewhat after half-time, but the damage had been done. As such, Warrington perhaps eased off the gas a bit. The Rhinos managed to avoid the ignominy of being beaten without scoring on the hour mark when Derrell Olpherts finished well in the corner, and Justin Sangaré – one of few Leeds players to come out of the night with any credit – also scored a debut try.
But Warrington responded with further tries for James Harrison and Greg Minikin to give the scoreline the definitive and decisive edge their performance deserved.