The lad looks to be stronger than an Ox, couple of times last night you could see the expression of what was that on players faces after trying to tackle him. I would like to see him get the ball at full pace rather than the cut out pass straight to the winger but having said that its working. Defence seems strong from him to

There are certainly bumps in the road to date, but there does seem to be a genuine gradual improvement in both attack and defence in this Wire team. HKR are a very good attacking side so to keep them to 8 points was a pretty good effort. Plus there is lots of good stuff being used in our attacking play that is unsettling the opposition. With good competition for places and plenty of self belief apparent Im pretty encouraged with what Im seeing atm.

Solid performance from wire last night..Burgess and the coaching team have this group of players believing in themselves.. the week on week improvement in the team is encouraging to see.. Williams is striking fear into the opposition with and without the ball as he shown last night.. Kr were fixed on Williams it allowed Drinkwater to play his game..

He does look strong. He put in a couple of crunching tackles also.

Same here. I was a Hicks fan, I'm not denying he was good but he played in a team that was dominating the league with a world class centre inside him. Ashton has played in the drivel that we have been served up (this season aside) since 2020 yet has still notched up 55 tries in 81 games and scores tries that Hicks would never have been able to. If you take nostalgia out of the equation then Ashton is the superior winger.

You make valid points and I respect the right to an opinion that may very well differ than my own. I accept that Ashton is the superior winger in your opinion. Hicks never had the benefit of playing when hitting the flag was not classed as in touch.

In terms of nostalgic recall, mine sadly goes back to Mike "Spider" Kelly, Mike Ford, and Rick Thackray.

We need to give credit to Drinkwater for his passes for the 1st & 3rd Try ... both relatively close to being intercepted but beautifully cutting out opposition player. Currie did a decent pass for the 2nd try.

Drinkwater has been much more effective since his period out of the side. Maybe that was just what he needed.

Great win against a quality team.

We were fast out of the stalls and put the points on the board early, which ultimately won the game for us.

Great defensive effort in the 2nd half when Hull KR were dominant for long periods.

Definitely a game we would have lost in the last few seasons, Burgess has really added some steel to this team.

Agreed. Both tries involved excellent play: the Drinkwater passes, the dummy runs by Williams which sacked in a defender both times, and King and Ashton making full use of their attributes to finish them off.

I agree. He had been hobbling round a bit too. He took a horrible "tackle" & a smack on the upper leg off Hardaker as he tried to kick a ball in the pre-season game. The rest & time to think about what he might do if & when he got back in the side has done him good. We might just decide to try & stick with Williams, Hayes & Drinkwater as our half backs rather than bring in an unknown quantity & rock the boat. I suppose it depends on money & exactly who is available. We are in the good position that we won't be trying to make too many additions to our squad ... but I'd really like Yates as an additional strong forward.

Really, really enjoyed that game. Which I don’t find myself saying often.

There’s something in this team that is different. Philbin is developing into a well rounded front rower, doing the dirty bits well. Currie is grafting hard, on top of the shiny bits that he could always do. Nicholson with another 40+ tackles. I think every back, bar Drinkwater, ran 100+ meters. It just feels very un-Warrington.

King will get the plaudits, rightly so, but Walker and Powell are setting standards in the middle with a ruthless efficiency that is just alien to primrose and blue. I didn’t see any point in signing Powell at all. Now it’s more the case of how can we get him on the field more.

Not getting carried away, I still think we’re a bit behind the big three, but the difference between the past 10 years and now is unbelievable, and I’ll bet we’ve never spent a lower percentage of the salary cap.

Great first half performance. We blew them away in the first 20 mins and our defensive effort in the second half was outstanding. Burgess has got these players running through brick walls for him and it is great to see.

Thewlis outstanding again and tough as nails. The absolute rubbish that was posted on here last week about him being a mard will look even more ridiculous week by week.

Enjoyable trip over for us boys last night overall. Disapointed but not downheartened with the result. I think overall you deserved the win and just about shaded it. Very much looked like a team with a plan executed to perfection. I don’t actually think we were that bad first half I think you were that good. Second half we improved a lot and had a lot of pressure but wires sliding defence is exactly how we should have defended first half instead of jamming in. 2 good teams on show in a game not spoilt by the ref thought it was overall a great exhibition for the game (unsure about a penalty try, but if not it could have been just a penalty and a yellow which could have been worse for us)

He’s certainly got you playing with grit and steel, something not often said about wire even if the more successful recent years. I think both teams will be around top 4 come end of season in my opinion battling with Catalans/saints for 2-5

Good luck for next week

Let’s not forget a mention for Jordy Crowther. A great pass to set Williams away when we were under pressure in the second half followed next set by ‘that’ tackle on Lewis. I bet Burgess loved that.

a Wire v KR CC final would be an excellent game IMO.... not getting carried away though....Huddersfield will be right up for it and it will be tough to get past them.

Wire last night showed they are going to be there or thereabouts come the playoffs.... good performance on both sides of the ball.... the defence is whats getting us over the line IMO. Big Sam has got them believing in themselves, and has got them well drilled and up for the grind. King and Thewlis were excellent last night especially in defence.

Plus, Thewlis' kicking is really improving... he's obviously putting in the hours on the practice ground. Having a kicker that hits high percentages is a massive bonus... turning 4 into 6 on a regular basis is really important, especially in the tight games. On to next week!

Yes ... what a superb attitude. Tough as hell. I'm still gobsmacked how we "found" him.

Dufty always has an error in him, but his good is far, far outweighing his bad this season. I thought his opposite number, Evalds, had a strong game for HKR last night and always looked dangerous coming into the line, but he also dropped a ball from a kick at a vital time. It happens.

Interesting no one has mentioned our defence coach…who is marshalling the defence superbly take a bow Mr erm … Marshall

So a couple over on our favourite comedy club that is Redvee reckon we beat HKR because they were tired from their Grand Final last week. My question is what was the game the week before when they beat Wigan…. League 1 ?

Yeah great night as most people said here can't wait to watch it back.

Some things that stuck in my head.

That purple patch in the 1st half as good as I'd seen us all year, maybe last 20 at saints was slightly better but awesome.

King great both sides of the ball.

Drinkwater the little bits that were annoying me he seems to have fixed we got so many more meters out of hand from penalties and in play and he's doing it.

Thewlis again let's criticise him every week if he continues like this, where he kept Lewis penalty from going out made me smile.

Walker nailing a 40-20, and executing well.

Tai giving a selection headache when Wrench is back.

Fitzgibbon whipping up the crowd.

I even prefer Vella approach of sending more up as no tries let the video ref make the decision.

Decent rest now to semi and should have a strong squad against Giants, happy into weekend Cas win tonight would round it off but maybe too much to ask for but you never know.

Yeah the arrogance that every game against them is the oppositions grand final is simply outstanding.

They need to get their own house in order before the concentrate too much on the opposition.

he did exactly this in the kr away game in february.

quote is being funny again, but picking up on a few previous posts

i absolutely love thewlis and crowther,, they both work their nuts off, thewlis was winding the crowd up, that cover tackle on litten where he randomly shot across to the other side of the field after that break, and smashed him on the last tackle, great vision.

Crowther, as mentioned, 12 month ago his agent was probably saying "well, wakey aren't offering you a contract, probably getting relegated, cas are interested, they might get relegated, ...."

THAT tackle on lewis though?!?!?

We're working sooooooo hard.

For all the complaints about the last couple of weeks, i wouldn't begrudge if burgess had told us to take it down a step for a few weeks, knowing he was ramping it up going into the semi final.

We work soooooooooooooo hard.

that hit up from currie from that drop out, couldn't believe my eyes.

Quite impressed with Vella, from the couple of games I've seen him in. He seems to be a calm and unfussy ref, who doesn't want to make it all about himself, unlike some I could mention (hint - mint cake). It felt like he got most things right last night, although the penalty against Dufty for apparently stealing a ball that never actually left his possession was a bit baffling!