Video referee woes, disciplinary worries, Challenge Cup hangover and Wakefield Trinity v Warrington Wolves talking points

Wakefield Trinity took on Warrington Wolves in Round Eleven of Super League and we’ve examined the key talking points from the game.

Warrington Wolves slipped to a 40-10 defeat with their ten points flattering them with both tries coming in a two-minute period on the edge of halftime.

Sam Burgess had handed a debut to Zack Gardner, the son of St Helens legend Ade Gardner, with Warrington Wolves forced to change their back-line with Matty Ashton, Josh Thewlis and Toby King all absent. Wakefield had seen Max Jowitt thrust into the halves and Josh Rourke recalled at full-back as well.

Here are a few of the talking points that we picked out.

Wakefield Trinity and Warrington Wolves talking points

Wakefield’s immense front two

In Mike McMeeken and Caius Faatili, Daryl Powell has two the very best props in Super League. McMeeken seems to have taken his game to another level now that he’s back in England but we always knew his class.

What we didn’t know was who was Caius Faatili. Signed in late January, Faatili has made a huge impact at Wakefield with the forward scoring braces at Magic Weekend and again today. He earned a lengthy break after scoring two tries in the opening ten minutes, otherwise he may well have grabbed a hat-trick.

Video referee changes now please

The video referee process is still far too long and this game was a prime example of that. Whilst it was far from the longest game of the weekend, it was still a two-hour long match with the first half taking almost an hour to complete.

Two tries went to the video referee and each team used their captain’s challenge with the shortest review still taking 49 seconds. On the other hand, the longest took just under two and a half minutes. On average, each call took one minute and 39 seconds, which everyone can agree is far too long.

Challenge Cup hangover

Hull KR were slow to start yesterday but they did overcome in the end, but all three of the other Challenge Cup semi-finalists lost with two of those losses being in extraordinary fashion.

Catalans lost 40-0 to St Helens whilst Warrington also shipped 40 with Leigh not far behind in conceding 36, albeit against Wigan Warriors. There is no current way to avoid this with hos packed the fixture list is but the big question is what is the knock-on effect? Warrington take on Hull KR next week in a Challenge Cup Final dress rehearsal and it could even be a good time for Sam Burgess to rest his starters.

Warrington disciplinary worry

Warrington Wolves could find themselves in hot water when it comes to Monday’s Match Review Panel with Rodrick Tai putting himself into two tackles that he won’t want to see again.

The first of those saw him clatter Josh Rourke late and whilst Liam Rush didn’t take action, the force and timing of the tackle may well be looked at. His second saw him tip Rourke with only the full-back’s hands saving himself from a very dangerous position.

Teams

Wakefield Trinity: Josh Rourke; Lachlan Walmsley, Corey Hall, Oliver Pratt, Tom Johnstone; Max Jowitt, Mason Lino; Mike McMeeken, Liam Hood, Caius Faatili; Jack Croft, Josh Griffin, Jay Pitts

Bench: Mathieu Cozza, Isaiah Vagana, Cameron Scott, Harvey Smith

Warrington Wolves: Matt Dufty; Arron Lindop, Rodrick Tai, Connor Wrench, Jake Thewlis; Stefan Ratchford, Marc Sneyd; Luke Yates, Sam Powell, Paul Vaughan; Adam Holroyd, Dan Russell, Ben Currie

Bench: James Harrison, Jordy Crowther, Joe Philbin, Zack Gardner

Get the Sunday #SuperLeague action underway in Wakefield ☀️ pic.twitter.com/4G8DPX8Pqs

— Betfred Super League (@SuperLeague) May 18, 2025