Warrington produced a nerveless performance to win the Challenge Cup final against a St Helens side who buckled under the pressure. But the victors will know all too well how their opponents are feeling.
They arrived at Wembley 12 months ago themselves heavy favourites to win this trophy before succumbing to expectation against Catalans. Steve Price may well have been exaggerating when he described his side as the biggest underdogs in the final’s history, but he was right about one thing: nobody gave them a chance here.
Warrington’s gameplan was inch-perfect, their defensive qualities of the highest order. The three tries they scored ultimately secured the cup but in reality, you could point to any number of crucial try-saving tackles as being equally decisive. Without their marquee player, Blake Austin, Warrington had to do something different: they did that and more here.
“It’s a different feeling to last year,” Price admitted afterwards. “It was a very hollow feeling last year, and it didn’t sit well with this group what happened. This is the best performance since I’ve been here at this club. We’ve a special group of men here and we’re going for the big one now.”
Joe Philbin had already crashed over from close-range for Warrington’s opening try when Lachlan Coote uncharacteristically dropped a high ball, allowing Ben Murdoch-Masila to go over. That mistake was symptomatic of Saints’ performance. The most consistent side in Super League this season, it must be troubling for them that they saved their worst display of the season for the grandest stage.
Did pressure contribute to their display? Absolutely. There were too many errors at crucial moments for it not to have, and with Saints heavy favourites here, it raises the question of whether they can transform their dominance in Super League into a major trophy, especially following defeats in league and cup semi-finals last year.
“It should hurt us, because nobody wants to lose a final,” Justin Holbrook, the St Helens coach, said. “If it doesn’t hurt then you’re in the wrong environment.”
Holbrook also pointed to a crucial moment in the game’s early stages which, had it gone Saints’ way, could have resulted in an entirely different final – and perhaps a different outcome. Robert Hicks’ decision not to send a Morgan Knowles try claim to the video referee was huge – not least when replays showed Knowles appeared to have grounded the ball. “Unforgivable,” was Holbrook’s reply when asked about the moment. With that call going against Saints, Warrington absorbed attack after attack before going ahead through Philbin’s try.
Murdoch-Masila made it 12-0 at half-time, which felt huge given the scale of the occasion and the energy-sapping heat: these were not conditions in which to be chasing the game, and an early response was crucial if Saints were to have any hope of muscling their way back into the final.
Tommy Makinson’s desperate one-handed attempt to score was denied by a superb tackle from Bryson Goodwin. Regan Grace’s mistake on his own line piled the pressure back on Saints and, as the half wore on, you felt the final was slipping away from the favourites. Théo Fages’s try on the hour threatened to offer a way back but the Frenchman’s fine solo effort was a rare moment of success, rather than the catalyst for something else.
Saints bombarded Warrington’s line time and time again but spirited defence kept them at bay, laying the platform for the decisive blow in the final minutes when Daryl Clark, the game’s outstanding player, darted over from close range.
“I think being favourites affected them because it definitely affected us last year,” Clark said. “We maybe thought the job was done last year but we flipped it on its head this time.”
How they did that. Whether St Helens can respond from this in the same way Warrington have will be discovered in the coming weeks and months – but with Price already targeting a domestic double, you suspect nobody associated with the Wolves will care one bit about what the Saints do right now.
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