Jon Wilkin says star player is Super League side’s “weak link”

Wigan Warriors and St Helens served up arguably the best game of the season on Good Friday.

It was in the same ball park as the perfection you’d need in a Grand Final and there were times in the game when both sides were going blow for blow.

However, the opening try came after a defensive misread from Konrad Hurrell which led to the Sky commentary team describing him as “the weak link.”

“They see Konrad Hurrell defensively as the weak link.”

Former Saint described his defensive read as lazy:

“Harry Smith digging into the line is a problem and when he does that, you need your defenders to be nibble.

“Konrad Hurrell makes a lazy, a lazy, defensive decision from him. He got caught ball watching and on his heels and Tommy Makinson is left with an impossible decision to make.

“If there is an area to go at, maybe it is him. He is not quite there with his defensive reads.”

That said, Terry O’Connor underlined the impact Konrad Hurrell has with his offence:

“Konrad Hurrell is destructive with the ball and he is so strong, I think people go at him they know laterally he struggles like any big man.”

To this, Jon Wilkin responded with the way he believes teams will sap energy from him:

“You take his strength away by making him word hard, make him tackle, put traffic around him, tire him out and take that strength out of him.”