Hull KR lost a second straight game as they saw their faint hopes of defending the League Leaders Shield almost certainly diminish in the sun at the Halliwell Jones Stadium.
Wire ran in six tries as they put in a brilliant performance against a sorry Hull KR as Sam Burgess’ side won 34-12. The loss means that Hull KR are vulnerable to dropping out of the play-offs should Leigh Leopards beat the Robins’ rivals, Hull FC, later this evening.
Willie Peters was demanding of a response after last week’s home loss to Wakefield Trinity but he didn’t get it and Warrington settled fastest, scoring the opener through Lachlan Webster before James Harrison crashed over after quarter of an hour.
Despite their dominance, Warrington still only led 10-0 by the half hour mark but quickfire scores by Matty Ashton and Danny Walker exposed Hull KR, before Joe Philbin’s 53rd minute score made it 28-0 and put the game beyond all doubt.
Oliver Gildart scored to offer hope but Hull KR’s woes worsened as Mikey Lewis was then sin binned before Matty Ashton scored his second, ahead of a James Batchelor consolation to make it 34-12
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Warrington Wolves and Hull KR talking points
Title defence over
Willie Peters admitted before the game that a loss for Hull KR would rule out any chance of them retaining the League Leaders Shield with the Robins left eight points back from Leeds with just nine games to play.
Whilst that is certainly gone, this performance was one that would suggest any hope of making the Grand Final is also gone with the Robins outplayed, outworked and likely out of the running to retain their title.
Plenty has been said about why Hull KR are so far off their 2025 peak with the loss of leaders Micky McIlorum and Jared Waerea-Hargreaves an obvious one, as well as the clear fatigue in this side, but they can’t remedy either of those issues in this final nine games so the answer for how to improve remains unclear.
Could it finally be Warrington’s year?
We’ve established that it isn’t Hull KR’s year and whilst it’s maybe too soon to get excited over one performance, this was a very big performance from Warrington, in both quality and significance.
Defeat would have seen them vulnerable to miss out on the six but this win puts them firmly four points inside and it will also inspire plenty of confidence that they can knock KR off at Craven Park next month.
Aside from that game against Hull KR, Sam Burgess’ men play just two more games against play-off contender, with six of their nine remaining games against sides outside the top six. That could lead to a very strong run of form and with talk George Williams may return soon, who knows how they will fare in the play-offs?
Mikey Lewis headbutt worry
He was tormenting Warrington with his kicking game early on, landing a 40/20 inside two minutes and then having another huge kick allowed to bounce but as Wire started to get on top, Lewis started to lose his cool.
The former Man of Steel knocked on on his line but helped force an error seconds later to redeem himself, however, he made sure to let Adam Holroyd know about it. Initial viewing suggested he just pushed the Warrington man but a clip quickly started picking up attention on social media where it appeared the Hull KR man headbutted his opponent.
If not an obvious headbutt in terms of throwing the head forward, Lewis certainly seemed to motion towards and make contact with the Warrington man, something that will surely be looked at by the Match Review Panel. It also wouldn’t be the only act of petulance from Lewis in the game with the playmaker hitting Ewan Irwin late after the pass had gone, an offence that saw his teammate Peta Hiku received a Grade C charge for last week.
KR selection and injury issue
Hull KR were certainly going to make three changes after Peters confirmed that Arthur Mourgue, Dean Hadley and Tom Amone would be back, whilst Peta Hiku was also to be replaced after his ban but his replacement was a surprise.
Rhyse Martin was named at right centre with Jack Broadbent, who is a far more natural centre, was left on the bench. That was remedied in the 35th minute when Martin was hooked after being exposed positionally for two quickfire tries.
Another selection that raised eyebrows was Noah Booth over Joe Burgess, however, Burgess confirmed to Sky Sports that his shoulder wasn’t great, though Willie Peters also reportedly told the broadcaster that he ‘wasn’t overly happy with his performance last week’.
Milestone men
Kelepi Tanginoa came out on the winning side against his former club in what was also his 150th Super League appearance, 51 of which came at Hull KR.
Matty Ashton also had plenty to celebrate as he scored his 100th Warrington Wolves try in the first half and added his 101st in the second, in what was just his 126th appearance, highlighting just how prolific he has been since debuting in 2020.
