2019 Super League Round 19 Review

Round 19 began on Thursday night as London Broncos edge a narrow 26-24 win over fellow relegation battlers Hull Kingston Rovers. London struck early with a Kieran Dixon penalty goal for 2-0 before Morgan Smith crossed to make it 6-0 on 23 minutes. Dixon added another penalty goal for an 8-0 lead before Weller Hauraki replied for the Robins with Ryan Shaw converting for 8-6 into the interval.

The Robins flew out of the blocks after the restart with Adam Quinlan, Chris Atkin crossing inside six minutes with Shaw converting twice for an 18-8 lead for the visitors. The Broncos response saw Alex Walker, Jordan Abdull and Rob Butler all go over with Dixon improving the lot to give them a 26-18 advantage that was soon cut by Josh Drinkwater's try and Shaw's conversion to just two points but the Broncos managed to hold on to secure a 26-24 win.

In attendance on Friday night at the John Smith's Stadium as Wigan Warriors claimed a 38-22 win over Huddersfield Giants. The Warriors opened the scoring with a self-converted try from Chris Hankinson inside six minutes before Hudds levelled with a Sam Hewitt try and Lee Gaskell conversion for 6 all. Wigan regained the lead with scores from Sean O'Loughlin and Liam Marshall with Hankinson converting both for an 18-6 lead. The lead narrowed to 18-12 at the interval after Matt Frawley crossed for the hosts and Gaskell converted.

However, Wigan took control after the restart with Joe Burgess and Tommy Leuluai crossing for tries with Hankinson improving both while adding to penalty goals for a huge 32-12 advantage. The win looked to be wrapped up by the 68th minute as George Willams crossed and Hankinson kicked for 38-12. Hudds staged a fightback in the final ten minutes with Louis Senior and Jordan Turner going over with Gaskell converting just the former for a 38-22 final score.

Salford Red Devils continued their good form with a 26-16 win over Castleford Tigers at the AJ Bell Stadium. The hosts struck first through Niall Evalds with Krisnan Inu converting for a 6-0 lead which soon became 12-0 as he improved a Lee Mossop score. The Tigers replied with a Daniel Smith try which Peter Mata'utia converted for 12-6. Salford regained a two score lead with a Jackson Hastings try which Inu improved for 18-6 but the gap was to be one score again into the interval as Greg Minikin and Jordan Rankin went in, Mata'utia converted just the latter for 18-16.

The second half was a quieter one on the scoreboard with Derrell Olpherts crossing for a try on the hour which Inu converted for 24-16 with the final say going to Inu as he kicked a fifth success in the final minute to complete the 26-16 victory.

The televised action saw St Helens maintain a gap at the top with a 36-10 win over Leeds Rhinos at the Totally Wicked Stadium. A rapid start from the hosts saw Kevin Naiqama and Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook crossing with Lachlan Coote converting twice for a 12-0 lead inside just five minutes. Leeds replied through Brad Dwyer with Liam Sutcliffe converting for 12-6 but a self-converted effort from Coote made it 18-6 three minutes later. The lead remained at two scores until just before the interval with Tommy Makinson acrobatically crossing with Coote converting from the wing for 24-6.

The second half was a more tighter affair with Luke Briscoe crossing out wide for the Rhinos to make it 24-10 but there was to be no comeback with St Helens wrapping up the win late on with a second score from McCarthy-Scarsbrook and James Bentley's try which saw Coote convert both for his sixth success at 36-10.

Friday's final game saw Warrington Wolves cruise to a 30-6 win over Wakefield Trinity at the Halliwell Jones Stadium. Trinity raced out of the blocks with the opening score coming inside a minute, Ryan Hampshire crossing for a try which Danny Brough converted for 6-0. Warrington levelled through Ben Currie with Declan Patton converting for 6 all before Josh Charnley and Mike Cooper went over with Patton converting the latter for 18-6 into the interval.

The Wolves spree resumed inside two minutes of the restart as Blake Austin crossed for a try which Patton improved for 24-6 but the second half proved to be far tighter from there with the only further score coming in the final minute, Jack Johnson scoring a try which saw Patton kick his fifth success of the evening to wrap up a 30-6 win.

The round ended on Saturday with Hull FC easing to a 50-10 win over Catalans Dragons. The Dragons struck first through Sam Tomkins who's self-converted try made it 6-0 inside eight minutes. FC responded with an Albert Kelly score which Marc Sneyd converted to level at 6 all before he added a penalty goal for 8-6. Joe Westerman crossed to extend the lead further with Sneyd kicking for 14-6. Catalans responded with a try from Lewis Tierney but they were dealt two further blows before the interval as Andre Savelio and Josh Griffin touched down, Sneyd improving both for a huge 26-10 advantage at the interval.

The second half saw Kieran Buchanan and Ratu Naulago extend the lead further with tries which Sneyd converted before a second score from Griffin and Jamie Shaul effort saw Sneyd reach nine successes in a 50-10 victory.