Warrington Guardian:

HITTING rock bottom and then winning the Challenge Cup for the first time in 35 years were features of an eventful 14th season in the summer era for Warrington Wolves.

Tony Smith took over as head of coaching and rugby, Wolves played historic matches in Scotland and Spain, but failed to finish in a play-offs position though not many were concerned about that after celebrating a 25-16 triumph over Huddersfield Giants at Wembley.

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Prop Garreth Carvell and hooker Micky Higham were new arrivals for 2009 but it soon became apparent the players were tiring badly at the back end of matches, a sign that pre-season training had not gone as well as hoped.

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After three opening defeats to the new campaign under Jimmy Lowes, adding to the five at the end of 2008, the board of directors decided to act and brought in experienced two-times Grand Final winning Leeds Rhinos boss Smith to take charge.

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Although there were signs of a recovery in the 20-14 home loss to Leeds, Warrington were shocking in a 60-8 battering at Harlequins made all the worse by a frustrated Matt King signing an offensive gesture towards supporters who had been verbally abusing him.

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Smith quickly stamped his authority on the squad, leaving out underperforming players and releasing Martin Gleeson to Wigan in exchange for his former Leeds full back Richie Mathers and £125,000.

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The result was 13 wins in 17 matches, the most impressive being a stunning success at Bradford with Chris Bridge and Chris Hicks ripping the home side to shreds in a new-look right edge.

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Victories at Hull and home to Wigan led up to a historic Challenge Cup quarter final success at Hull KR – the first time a tie was settled by golden-point extra time live on BBC, with a Lee Briers drop goal doing the honours.

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Warrington Guardian: Wolves celebrate Lee Briers' golden point drop goal at Hull KR in 2009

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A win over Catalans Dragons at the Olympic Stadium in Barcelona was another treat for Warrington fans.

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And then their supporters lifted the roof off Halton Stadium when Hicks sped away for the try that finally killed off Wigan and booked a cup final date for the first time at the new Wembley.

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Warrington Guardian: Scoring in the Challenge Cup semi final against Wigan in 2009

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With Michael Monaghan revelling in a switch to hooker and Jon Clarke and Simon Grix both injured, Vinnie Anderson made a rare start at stand off at Wembley and scored the final try in front of more than 40,000 travelling Wire fans as they ended an 18-year trophy drought.

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Warrington Guardian: Matt King, left, celebrates Wolves' 2009 Challenge Cup Final success along with Chris Hicks and Michael Monaghan

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SEASON'S RESULTS:

Challenge Cup:

Apr 4: Wolves 56 York City Knights 10

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May 10: Featherstone Rovers 8 Wolves 56

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May 30, QF: Hull KR 24 Wolves 25

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Aug 8, SF: Wolves 39 Wigan Warriors 26

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Aug 29, F: Huddersfield 16 Wolves 25

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Super League:

Feb 13: St Helens 26 Wolves 14

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Feb 21: Wolves 20 Catalans Dragons 40

Feb 27: Wakefield Trinity 48 Wolves 22

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Mar 8: Wolves 14 Leeds Rhinos 20

Mar 14: Harlequins 60 Wolves 8

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Mar 22: Wolves 24 Hull KR 12

Mar 29: Wolves 27 Celtic Crusaders 22

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Apr 10: Salford City Reds 16 Wolves 18

Apr 13: Wolves 6 Castleford Tigers 28

Apr 17: Bradford Bulls 22 Wolves 58Warrington Guardian:

 

Apr 26: Wolves 40 Huddersfield Giants 18

May 3: Hull KR 36 Wolves 28 *

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Warrington Guardian: Magic event, Edinburgh, 2009

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May 16: Hull FC 16 Wolves 18

May 22: Wolves 16 Wigan Warriors 8

Jun 6: Castleford Tigers 18 Wolves 34

Jun 14: Wolves 10 Bradford Bulls 21

Jun 20: Catalans Dragons 12 Wolves 24 **

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Jun 28: Wolves 24 Hull FC 12

Jul 4: Celtic Crusaders 6 Wolves 22

Jul 11: Wolves 26 St Helens 40

Jul 19: Huddersfield Giants 28 Wolves 10

Jul 26: Wolves 62 Salford City Reds 20

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Jul 31: Leeds Rhinos 24 Wolves 22

Aug 14: Wigan Warriors 36 Wolves 16

Aug 21: Wolves 28 Wakefield Trinity 40

Sep 5: Hull KR 40 Wolves 16

Sep 13: Wolves 44 Harlequins 34

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* Magic Weekend, Murrayfield

** At Olympic Stadium, Barcelona

 

INTERESTING NOTES:

 

The 10-game losing streak going back to the end of 2008 was a club record

Michael Monaghan won the Lance Todd Trophy as man of the match in the Challenge Cup Final

Warrington Guardian: Michael Monaghan with the Lance Todd Trophy he won last year. Picture by Mike Boden

Michael Monaghan with the Lance Todd Trophy

 

Stuart Reardon was released after a succession of injuries

 

SUPER LEAGUE TABLE:

 

               P             W            D             L              F              A             Pt

Leeds Rhinos      27           21           0             6             805        453        42

St Helens              27           19           0             8             733        466        38

Huddersfield Giants         27           18           0             9             690        416        36

Hull KR  27           17           1             9             650        516        35

Wakefield Trinity              27           16           0             11           685        609        32

Wigan Warriors 27           15           0             12           659        551        30

Castleford Tigers               27           14           0             13           645        702        28

Catalans Dragons             27           13           0             14           613        660        26

Bradford Bulls    27           12           1             14           653        668        25

Warrington Wolves         27           12           0             15           649        705        24

Harlequins RL     27           11           0             16           591        691        22

Hull FC  27           10           0             17           502        623        20

Salford City Reds              27           7             0             20           456        754        14

Celtic Crusaders 27           3             0             24           357        874        6

 

SQUAD STATS:

 

              App        T              G             Dg           Pt

Louis Anderson 28+1     7             0             0             28

Vinnie Anderson               18+8     12           0             0             48

Matty Blythe      3+8        1             0             0             4

Chris Bridge        26+2     10           50           0             140

Lee Briers             23+1     10           2             4             48

Brian Carney       4             2             0             0             8

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Garreth Carvell  25+1     4             0             0             16

Jon Clarke            17+6     4             0             0             16

Mike Cooper      1+18     3             0             0             12

Martin Gleeson 6             0             0             0             0

Simon Grix           19+1     7             0             0             28

Ben Harrison      25+5     5             0             0             20

Chris Hicks           24           20           65           0             210

Micky Higham    10+11   6             0             0             24

Paul Johnson     16+8     9             0             0             36

Matt King            26           13           0             0             52

Richie Mathers  18           6             0             0             24

Tyrone McCarthy             1+4        2             0             0             8

Lee Mitchell        3+12     1             0             0             4

Michael Monaghan         28+1     7             0             0             28

Adrian Morley    26           1             0             0             4

Kevin Penny       5             3             0             0             12

Steve Pickersgill 0+4        0             0             0             0

Paul Rauhihi       6+17     2             0             0             8

Stuart Reardon  0             0             0             0             0

Chris Riley            27           10           0             0             40

Alex Thompson 0+1        1             0             0             4

Ben Westwood 26           5             0             0             20

Paul Wood          5+19     2             0             0             8