The Warrington coach, Tony Smith, won the battle of the brothers as his side beat his older brother Brian’s Wakefield despite one of the individual performances of the season from the half-back Jacob Miller.
The first meeting of two siblings as Super League coaches dominated the pre-match billing between two teams heading in different directions before Super League splits later this month, but Miller did his best to steal those headlines by scoring all four of Wakefield’s tries in a sensational solo performance.
Just like the majority of his team-mates before the arrival of Smith as head coach last month, Miller’s form has been relatively average in 2015 – but with the Wildcats starting to suggest they will be somewhat of a threat in the middle eight, the Australian could prove to be a key figure in their quest to remain in Super League for 2016.
“I thought Tony’s boys pretty much took up where they left off last week [against Wigan] – they were very strong, although I thought we did reasonably well in the second half,” said the Wakefield coach.
“We asked some questions of them and did reasonably well in the end to reduce them to some errors in the second half. Warrington have got a great squad and some highly skilled players. I thought the quickness of both their dummy halves did some damage to us. Overall I feel encouraged by much of what went on but it was not enough to trouble Warrington on the scoreboard.”
It was very much a case of job done again for Warrington though. After a mid-season wobble the Wolves are now just two points off fourth spot, and with form and momentum behind them, they look to be slowly getting on the right track ahead of the split themselves.
The Warrington coach said: “We’re pleased overall. I thought we played alright all things considered. Wakefield have come a long way since we last played them. I thought they were good today; they were breathing right down our necks and it was a potential banana-skin today.”
“We got troubled a few times near our own line and I have to pay tribute to young Miller, who was absolutely brilliant today. He was a real threat with ball in hand.
“I thought Matty Russell was outstanding for us, his carrying of the ball was absolutely brilliant, and there were some terrific efforts from our dummy halves, Brad Dwyer and Daryl Clark. When they’re both out there, they’re a real threat.”
A slow start from the hosts enabled Warrington to surge into a 12-0 lead, courtesy of tries from Stefan Ratchford and Joe Philbin, before Miller got his first on 18 minutes. By the time he scored his second Warrington had two more tries of their own to lead 22-6, but his hat-trick try four minutes after the restart reduced the gap to just eight points, sparking hopes of an upset.
But the England international Clark then scored a wonderful solo try to calm any Warrington nerves, before the Catalans-bound half-back Richie Myler followed suit with another two minutes later. By the time Miller had scored his fourth the game was up for Wakefield, with Russell adding extra gloss to the result for Warrington four minutes from time.
Wakefield Locke; Tansey, Arundel, Lyne, Riley; Hall, Miller; Scruton, McShane, Kavanagh, Ashurst, Washbrook, Annakin. Interchange Anderson, Ryan, Sio, Walker. Tries Miller 4 Goals Miller, Hall
Warrington Russell; Ormsby, Wheeler, Atkins, Penny; O’Brien, Myler; Hill, Clark, Harrison, Westwood, Philbin, Ratchford. Interchange Dwyer, Asotasi, King, Wilde. Tries Ratchford, Philbin, Russell 2, Westwood, Clark, Myler Goals O’Brien 6
Referee P Bentham Attendance 3,354
