29 Jun 2023

Talking Points: Round 17

Tonight sees Daryl Powell's Warrington Wolves host Rohan Smith's Rhinos for the second time this season at the Halliwell Jones Stadium, after the two sides battled it out in round one.

Before both teams take to the field, here are a handful of talking points ahead of the game…

Expect early Wolves tries and late Rhinos scores

Coming into this game off the back of the 42-10 result in round one, Warrington have made it a habit of scoring early tries. So far this season, the Wolves have scored most of their tries in the first ten minutes of the game (eleven), with Sam Kasiano and Josh Thewlis (two tries each) leading the way. Most of the Wolves' points also come between the five and ten-minute marks (44 points).

Leeds on the other hand leave it later for tries as most of their tries are scored between 60 and 70 minutes. Against Huddersfield last time out, three of Leeds' nine tries came in the last twenty minutes, including Rhyse Martin's two scores. In terms of tries conceded, the Rhinos have only let nine tries passed them in the last twenty minutes, compared to Warrington who have conceded 14.

Missing players for Wolves, returnees for Leeds

Warrington come into this week's game still without star half back George Williams, as he recovers from a hamstring rupture. The England captain started his 2023 season in style alongside new member of the pack Josh Drinkwater, who has also been sidelined in recent weeks, but Williams' absence has coincided with Warrington's current run of form which is two wins in five games. Drinkwater is available for tonight's game and could slot in place of either Stefan Ratchford or Peter Mata'utia, who held the fort in the halves last week.

Powell is also without James Harrison as the forward starts the first of his two match ban, plus Matty Nicholson also remains sidelined.

For Leeds, Rohan Smith has more players available for the trip to the Halliwell Jones as Tom Holroyd and Nene Macdonald are in contention to feature. Holroyd is a straight swap for Justin Sangare, who misses his third game of the season, whilst Macdonald bolsters the back line options, after David Fusitu'a and Rhyse Martin both scored two tries last week against the Giants.

Currie vs Martin

Two players that can impact the scoreboard tonight are Ben Currie and Rhyse Martin as the two go head to head on the left edge.

In his testimonial year, Currie has been a source of tries for Warrington this season, scoring three tries and assisting six. Only Williams has more assists than Currie, who has been at the club since 2012, plus he ranks highly in offloads (14) and tackles (425) this season.

Martin can hit 1000 career points if he scores 18 tonight against the Wolves. The PNG international has 70 points against the Wolves in his career (one try and 3 goals) and his two tries against the Giants made him the club's leading try scorer this season with nine.