10 great Warrington Wolves wins against St Helens

Steve Price's side need to win in order to keep alive hopes of finishing in the top two spots, which would mean not having to play in week one of the series and having home advantage in the semi-finals on week two.

So we're building up to the bank holiday blockbuster, which kicks off at 7.30pm, with our selection of 10 great Wire wins against Saints...

1) St Helens 18 Warrington Wolves 36, September 29, 2012, at the Totally Wicked Stadium

This was the occasion Warrington booked an appearance in the Super League Grand Final for the first time.

Few outside Wire land gave Tony Smith's side a hope, especially after they had lost 28-6 at home to Saints in the first round two weeks earlier.

But The Wire were on fire that night, producing one of their all-time great performances when it mattered most. Two-try former Australia Test star Trent Waterhouse was inspirational.

2) Warrington Wolves 56 St Helens 22, April 20, 2001, at Wilderspool Stadium

In terms of the season's landscape, this result counted for little but the magnitude of the score as well as the victory meant so much to fans at the time.

Sick and tired of years of monsterings at the hands of Saints, Darryl Van de Velde's side gave them a taste of their own medicine to put doubts in their minds before their appearance in the Challenge Cup Final at Twickenham a week later.

It was an Allan Langer and Lee Briers masterclass, with ex-Saint Alan Hunte and Toa Kohe-Love cashing in with hat-tricks.

3) St Helens 0 Warrington 16, October 23, 1982, at Central Park, Wigan

The fourth time the two sides had met in the Lancashire Cup Final and The Wire dished out a 'nilling'.

Saints had their hooker Graham Liptrot sent off when it was 8-0 and Great Britain pair Ken Kelly and Bob Eccles then completed the try scoring.

The score would have been greater had the usually reliable club record marksman Steve Hesford not left his kicking boots at home, missing seven of his nine attempts although he was still named man of the match for his part in the opening two tries from Paul Fellowes and Mike Kelly.

4) St Helens 13 Warrington Wolves 18, October 4, 2018, at the Totally Wicked Stadium

Huge favourites Saints were knocked out of the Super League semi-finals on their own turf again by The Wire as Steve Price's first season in charge was capped with an Old Trafford showdown.

Hero of the hour was winger Tom Lineham, whose two second-half tries - including the winner five minutes from time - completed a Warrington comeback after they had been 9-2, 11-6 and 13-12 behind in an epic contest.

This was the last time Saints were defeated by any team in an end-of-season play-offs encounter.

5) Warrington 78 St Helens 6, April 12, 1909, at Wilderspool Stadium

This stood as the club's record win until the Super League era arrived with more regular blow-out scores, but it remains the highest number of points clocked up by Wire against Saints.

If tries had been worth four points then instead of three, the result would have been 98-6.

Prop forward George Thomas' haul of five tries and nine goals for 33 points remained the club record in one match until Lee Briers scored 40 in 2000.

Winger Bert Bradshaw also crossed for five of the 20 touchdowns registered.

6) St Helens 11 Warrington 21, January 16, 1994, at Knowsley Road

This was Warrington's last win on Saints' former home ground.

Brian Johnson's team were in good form and enjoying a decent run in a season when they were only pipped to the league title on points difference.

Full-back Lee Penny, winger Rob Myler and second-rower Mike Gregory bagged the all-important tries, with Jonathan Davies kicking four goals and a drop goal.

7) St Helens 2 Warrington Wolves 6, June 17, 2021, at the Totally Wicked Stadium

A magnificent Wire defensive display in a gripping encounter with reigning champions St Helens.

Ben Currie scored the only try on the back of a fantastic handling move between the highly impressive full-back Stefan Ratchford and winger Tom Lineham.

Despite the lack of attacking flair, this was a contest that would not have looked out of place among the game’s grandest occasions.

The win was testament to The Wire's character, grit and resilience.

8) Warrington 5 St Helens 4, October 31, 1959, at Central Park, Wigan

Another game in which The Wire kept Saints 'tryless', with this occasion being the Lancashire Cup Final.

Brian Bevan's try converted by Eric Fraser proved to be the winning score in front of a crowd of almost 40,000.

This was the last trophy success of the Cec Mountford dynasty, the last in Wire colours for Bevan too.

Preventing a team that included all-time greats such as Alex Murphy, Tom van Vollenhoven and the recently passed Dick Huddart from crossing the try line was a mightily fine effort indeed.

9) St Helens 12 Warrington Wolves 39, September 4, 2014, at the Totally Wicked Stadium

This game is recalled for the magnitude of the win and the pantomime antics of Super League officials.

A Saints victory in this penultimate round of the regular season would have seen them lift the League Leaders' Shield but the hosts were humiliated live on Sky Sports as the cameras focused on the Shield being boxed up and put away for another week thanks to this stunning Wire win.

The Monaghan brothers, Joel and Michael, were in fine form and both got on the scoresheet as Tony Smith's side sealed a minimum of fifth place on the ladder for the top eight play-offs.

Stefan Ratchford, Gareth O'Brien, Richie Myler and Ryan Atkins also crossed the whitewash.

10) Warrington Wolves 18 St Helens 4, August 24, 2019, at Wembley

Written off even by many of their own fans, The Wire delivered their season's best when it mattered most - despite their star stand-off Blake Austin being sidelined with injury.

Back rower stepped in as emergency cover and nullified the threat of Saints' most dangerous player Jonny Lomax.

Everything that was thrown at Warrington was dealt with superbly and then they were clinical in attack by taking the chances they created.

Lance Todd Trophy winner Daryl Clark, on his 150th Wire appearance, bagged the last try to put the contest beyond Saints.

Joe Philbin and Ben Murdoch-Masila also got over the whitewash in a Challenge Cup Final win recently voted by Guardian readers as The Wire's best of the 21st century.