16 February 2023 , 22:12
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George Williams ran amok as ruthless Warrington quickly showed they mean business in 2023.
Daryl Powell’s expensively-assembled side were awful last year when only relegated Toulouse finished below them. The ex-Castleford boss knows he has no excuses in his second season in charge so he’ll be delighted with their stunning Super League opening night. Slick Warrington were 30-0 up at half-time and last year’s misery already seemed long forgotten.
They were unrecognisable from that shambles. Here they played with pace, power and verve to rattle- Leeds Rhinos to the core with England scrum-half Williams involved in four of their seven tries. Indie band The Lathums played their hit Fight On before kick-off and fired-up Warrington clearly took note. Last season’s error-ridden beaten Grand Finalists had no answers.
Warrington could easily have been rocked by the loss of star Aussie signing Josh McGuire who was banned for seven games on Tuesday.
But they didn’t miss him as fellow NRL capture Paul Vaughan produced a storming display up front. Fellow forwards Ben Currie, James Harrison and Joe Bullock all packed a punch, too. It was little wonder Williams was able to toy with Leeds’ defence so easily.
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He dovetailed perfectly with new signing Josh Drinkwater while new captain Stefan Ratchford, in his 300th Warrington game, slotted six kicks to pass the 500 goal mark for the club.
Josh Thewlis of Warringrton scores his team's third tryPowell’s side scored inside four minutes when Williams sent Currie romping clear for Matt Dufty to finish off. Ratchford slotted a penalty and when Richie Myler spilled Drinkwater’s high kick they were in again.
Ex-England hooker Daryl Clark darted out of dummy-half to beat soft defence with alarming ease. Wolves’ dominant forwards continually rolled their helpless opponents downfield. They kept the ball alive brilliantly on the last tackle for Clark and Pete Mata’utia to squeeze Josh Thewlis over with an acrobatic finish.
Limp Leeds just couldn’t get any ball. So, the last thing they needed to see at 18-0 down was six foot five inches prop Sam Kasiano coming on.
Thomas Mikaele of Warrington is tackled by Morgan Gannon of LeedsThe rampant hosts scored their fourth try when Danny Walker followed up his own kick to slide over. And ex-Catalans forward Kasiano, one of three new Wolves signings on show, grabbed a debut score when casually collecting Williams’ lofted chip. It was all too easy.
Leeds managed to shore things up at the start of the second period but they still didn’t manage to cross until the hour mark.
Ex-Castleford winger Derrell Olpherts showed great strength to touch down on his debut. Rhyse Martin converted but Ash Handley spilled under no pressure in the next set and Williams sent Leeds-born James Harrison storming over.
The demoralised visitors splintered again as Olpherts lost possession and Greg Minikin weaved over before Leeds debutant Justin Sangare got a consolation.