2022 Super League Round Two

 After the long awaited opening round saw some surprises, Super League continued with Round Two.

Winning Wolves Topple Tigers

Warrington Wolves made it two wins in a row with a 34-10 win over Castleford Tigers at the Halliwell Jones Stadium on Thursday evening. The Wolves raced out of the blocks with an early opening try from Matt Ashton with Stefan Ratchford converting for 6-0 before improving a George Williams effort for 12-0 and the lead remained into the interval. 

Cas hit back within four minutes of the restart as Derrell Olpherts crossed for 12-4 with Josh Charnley touching down for 16-4. Rob Mulhern extended the lead for the hosts with a try which Ratchford converted for 22-4 before ex-Tigers back Peter Mata'utia (Ratchford conv) went over for 28-4. Cas cut the gap through Jake Trueman with Gareth O'Brien to make it 28-10 but the hosts had the final say as Charnley scored his second of the evening with Ratchford kicking to round off the 34-10 victory. 

Tri-Field As Warriors Rout Rhinos

Wigan Warriors also remain unbeaten as they eased to a 34-12 win over Leeds Rhinos at the DW Stadium on Friday night. Leeds struck first with Blake Austin crossing inside 11 minutes and Aidan Sezer converting for 6-0. Wigan responded with a self-converted brace from Jai Field in the 24th and 39th minutes to sent the Warriors into the interval with a 12-6 lead.

The hosts raced clear with a brace from Sam Powell sandwiching a superb hat-trick try for Field with Zak Hardaker converting twice for 28-6. Leeds cut the gap to 28-12 with a Matt Prior effort which Sezer improved but Wigan rounded off the win with a Liam Farrell try which Hardaker converted to complete the 34-12 success. 

Super Saints Humble Hull FC

Saturday's Channel 4 coverage featured St Helens strolling to a 38-6 win over Hull FC at the MKM Stadium in torrid conditions. Saints opened the scoring inside ten minutes through Mark Percival with Tommy Makinson converting for 6-0 before adding a penalty for 8-0. Josh Simm extended the lead with a try which Makinson converted for 14-0 before Hull suffered a further blow with the dismissal of Luke Gale on the half hour mark. St Helens wrapped up a first half nilling with Simm crossing for his brace and Makinson kicking for 20-0 into the interval. 

Saints continued their control after the restart as Jack Welsby crossed and Makinson converted for 26-0 before FC finally got off the mark with Josh Griffin touching down and Darnell McIntosh converting for 26-6. St Helens confirmed the win with two scores after the hour as Sione Mata'utia and Lewis Dodd went in with Makinson racking up seven conversions in the 38-6 win. 

Dragons Edge Past Tricky Trinity

Catalans Dragons bounced back from an opening loss with a narrow 24-22 win against Wakefield Trinity at Stade Gilbert Brutus on Saturday night. The Dragons raced into a 10-0 lead as Mathieu Laguerre and Fouad Yaha both crossed for tries with Sam Tomkins converting the latter. Wakefield replied through Tom Johnstone for 10-4 before a Samisoni Langi score  (Tomkins conv) and self converted try by Max Jowitt for Trinity made it 16-10 into the interval. 

Catalans restored a two score advantage within five minutes of the restart with Ben Garcia crossing and Tomkins converting for 22-10 before kicking a penalty on the hour mark for 24-10.Wakefield did mount a late charge as Johnstone crossed for his second try ahead of an effort from Tom Lineham with Jowitt converting twice for a 24-22 final score. 

Giants Glory Against Robins

Huddersfield Giants extended their unbeaten start with a 26-12 win over Hull Kingston Rovers at the John Smith's Stadium on Saturday. The Giants struck an opener on 10 minutes through Chris McQueen ahead of efforts from Luke Yates and Josh Jones which saw Oliver Russell convert twice for 16-0 into the interval. 

The hots resumed control within seven minutes of the restart as Jermaine McGilvary touched down for 20-0. The Robins finally got off the mark on 58 minutes after Brad Takairangi crossed and Jordan Abdull converted for 20-6 before he improved a Mikey Lewis try for 20-12. Hudds had the final say as McQueen went in for his second try which Tui Lolohea converted to round off the 26-12 win.

Sio Seals Salford Success Against Toulouse

The round ended on Sunday afternoon at the AJ Bell Stadium as Salford Red Devils claimed a 38-12 victory over Toulouse Olympique XIII. The hosts raced into a 20-0 lead with a Ken Sio brace and tries from Ryan Brierley and s self-converted effort from Marc Sneyd who also converted twice. Toulouse got off the mark just before the interval with a self-converted score from Chris Hankinson to make it 20-6 at the break. 

The visitors secured back-to-back scores as within five minutes of the restart, Joseph Paulo went in and Hankisnon converted for 20-12 but any hopes of a comeback were scuppered by Tim Lafai crossing ahead of two more from Sio who completed a quartet for the afternoon with Sneyd adding three conversions for a 38-12 final score. 

2022 Super League Round One

After two seasons affected by the Covid Pandemic, Super League 2022 opened with a full round across four days of action. 

Saints Slay Dragons

St Helens began their title defence with a comfortable 28-8 win over Catalans Dragons at the Totally Wicked Stadium on Thursday evening. The Dragons started the brighter of the two sides with Fouad Yaha crossing for the opening try on 14 minutes with Sam Tomkins converting for 6-0. Three tries in ten minutes from Tommy Makinson, James Roby and Lewis Dodd gave the hosts a 12-6 lead that became 18-8 with a second from Makinson. Catalans cut the gap to 18-8 at the interval with a Tomkins penalty. 

A Dodd penalty made the score 18-8 which lasted up to the final ten minutes which saw the Dragons reduced 12 with the dismissal of Dylan Napa and their evening got worse as Saints wrapped up a 28-8 win with scores from Joey Lussick (Dodd conv) and Konrad Hurrell. 

Robins Field Marshalled By Warriors

Wigan Warriors avenged a trio of losses to Hull Kingston Rovers with a 24-10 win at Sewell Group Craven Park on Friday night which I attended. Wigan flew out of the blocks with the opening try coming on nine minutes through Jake Bibby with Jai Field converting for a 6-0 lead that was cut to 6-4 on 18 minutes by Mikey Lewis' try. Field restored the one score lead at 10-4 with a try which was followed up by a Liam Marshall full length effort and second from Bibby to make it 18-4 into the interval.

The second half proved to be a quieter one with Wigan opening up a 24-4 advantage on the hour with Marshall's second score of the evening which Zak Hardaker converted but the Robins would have the final say as Matt Parcell crossed on 73 minutes with Jordan Abdull converting for 24-10 final score. Clips from my attendance can be seen here.

Devils Delight In Toppling Tigers 

Castleford Tigers home opener proved to be far from sweet as they lost out 26-16 to Salford Red Devils at the Mend-A-Hose Jungle. Ex-Tigers back Marc Sneyd opened the scoring with a 12th minute penalty for 2-0 before George Griffin crossed for the hosts and Danny Richardson converted for a 6-2 lead. Ken Sio replied for the visitors with Sneyd converting for 8-6 but the lead changed again with Derrell Olpherts crossing for 10-8. 

Salford would lead into the interval though as King Vuniyayawa and Deon Cross touched down with Sneyd converting twice for 20-10.Cas cut the gap to 20-16 with Olpherts' second score and Richardson's conversion before a trio of Sneyd penalties rounded off a 26-16 victory for Salford.

Rhinos Wrenched By Wolves

Saturday afternoon saw history made as Leeds Rhinos lost out 22-20 to Warrington Wolves at Headingley Stadium in the FIRST ever Super League game on free TV as Channel 4 began their coverage. Warrington opened the scoring with a Gareth Widdop try inside 12 minutes before Leeds went down to 12 with James Bentley dismissed on 16 minutes. The 12 men went ahead though with Zane Tetevano crossing and Rhyse Martin converting for 6-4 before a Matt Prior effort was improved for 12-4. Warrington ensured a close score into the interval though as Josh Charnley crossed and Stefan Ratchford converted for 12-10.

Leeds restored a two score lead with an Ash Handley try which Martin converted for 18-10 before going 20-10 up with a Martin penalty. Warrington cut the gap with Charnley's second score which Ratchford converted and they completed the turnaround with five minutes remaining as Connor Wrench crossed and Ratchford converted to seal the 22-20 win. 

Giants Glory In Toulouse

Toulouse Olympique XIII's Super League debut saw an opening loss as they suffered 42-14 to Huddersfield Giants at Stade Ernest Wallon on Saturday evening. The hosts made a superb start with Matt Russell and Ilias Bergal both crossing with Chris Hankinson converting the latter for 10-0. Hudds hit back through Luke Yates with Oliver Russell converting before a try each from Innes and Lewis Senior saw Russell improve the latter for 16-10 into the interval.

The Giants resumed control within seven minutes of the restart as Jake Wardle touched down and Russell converted for 22-10 before adding a penalty on the hour for 24-10. Wardle crossed for a second time ahead of a Chris McQueen effort which saw Russell convert twice for a huge 36-10 lead. The rout looked to be complete with Oli Ashall-Bott (Russell conv) crossing but the hosts had the final saw through Guy Armitage's late try for a 42-14 final score.  

FC Triumph At Trinity

The final game of the round saw Hull FC seal a narrow 16-12 win over Wakefield Trinity at the Be Well Support Stadium on Sunday afternoon. FC struck first with a self-converted score from Luke Gale for 6-0 before Trinity levelled just before the interval through Corey Hall with Max Jowitt converting to send the sides into the break level. 

FC regained the lead within two minutes of the restart as Joe Lovodua went over and Gale converted for 12-6. Darnell McIntosh extended the lead to 16-6 before a blow for FC after the hour as Jake Connor was dismissed and Wakefield used the man advantage on the overlap as Tom Johnstone crossed on the wing and Jowitt converted for 16-12 which is how the clash ended. 

Taking the Two In 2022 To Start At Hull KR

After two seasons of both physical and virtual attendances while updates were very mixed, this season opens with a new rhyming title of Taking The Two in 2022. 

Attending started this weekend with a first RL trip since Sept 26 2021, as I made the trip via bus/train to the Halliwell Jones Stadium as Warrington Wolves hosted Wigan Warriors in Stefan Ratchford's Testimonial on Saturday evening. 

The performance was a good one by a strong Wigan side who came away with a 14-6 victory meaning my losing run of three against 'Wire' came to an end. 

The season itself begins next week with the first Super League #SSiRLTravels of 2022 with a trip up to Sewell Group Craven Park as Wigan Warriors visit Hull Kingston Rovers on Friday 11th.