For those who may have doubted it before this latest victory, it is now official: the champions, St Helens, have come out of the traps flying in the defence of their Super League crown.
As the weeks go on, Keiron Cunningham’s side seem to get better and better, and with this latest win, their sixth in succession at the start of the season, it is yet further proof that they are the team to beat.
The biggest indicator of the Saints’ early-season dominance is that this 32-24 victory against Warrington brought an end to an unfortunate hoodoo for the club against their bitter rivals. This win was the first at home for the Saints in five years against Warrington, and the first at their new Langtree Park ground.
Amazingly, this unbeaten start to the season has also been achieved without their star half-back Luke Walsh, who is sitting on the sidelines inching his way towards a return to action.
“This is a moral victory for us here, because Warrington have found our home to be a happy hunting ground,” said the St Helens coach, Keiron Cunningham. “It’s a sign the tide is turning for us.”
Conceding points is not usually a hallmark of Warrington’s. Their second defeat of 2015 will not cause a great deal of concern, with the Wolves sitting third on the early Super League ladder after their first six weeks of the new season.
The Warrington coach, Tony Smith, lamented: “Our boys didn’t give in with their spirit, but it wasn’t quite to be. I thought Saints deserved the spoils; it would have been nice to snatch something but I just thought they controlled the ruck way better than us. We’ll learn some lessons from this, though.”
The Saints captain, Jon Wilkin, had more reason than most to celebrate this victory, after it came in a week in which the 31-year-old committed his future to the club for another season. Traditionally a forward, Wilkin has been making Walsh’s absence from the team seem futile in recent weeks with a string of magnificent performances, the latest of which came here against the Wolves.
It was Wilkin’s ball that provided the talented youngster Joe Greenwood with the opportunity to register the game’s opening score, which he finished off magnificently, before Warrington hit back courtesy of a Daryl Clark try.
Wilkin’s Saints took the bull by the horns in the minutes preceding half-time, though, as a try and another assist from the Saints skipper sent the home side in 18-6 to the good at the break. It was a lead they would not surrender, despite the former St Helens hooker Micky Higham reducing the deficit 10 minutes after the restart.
Tries from Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook and Tommy Makinson pushed the cushion out to 18 points, a gap that was too much for the Wolves to claw back despite late tries from Kevin Penny and Chris Hill.
Despite those scores setting up a grandstand finish with just seconds left on the clock a late penalty goal from Travis Burns confirmed what many already knew: this Saints team will take some beating in 2015.
St Helens Wellens; Makinson, Turner, Dawson, Swift; Burns, Wilkin; Walmsley, Hohaia, Amor, Greenwood, Vea, Thompson.
Interchange Masoe, Roby, McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Richards. Tries Greenwood, Wilkin, Swift, McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Makinson. Goals Burns 6.
Warrington Ratchford; Penny, Currie, Atkins, Russell; Bridge, O’Brien; Hill, Clark, Sims, Philbin, Laithwaite, Westwood.
Interchange Higham, Asotasi, Evans, King.
Tries Clark, Higham, Penny, Hill. Goals Ratchford 4.
Referee B Thaler
