Warrington Wolves lessons and takeaways from Leigh defeat

Joe Philbin's Testimonial match saw The Wire beaten 28-12 by Leigh Leopards in a match which saw head coach Sam Burgess play two almost completely different teams in either half.

Here, we assess five things we noticed about Wire's performance at The Halliwell Jones Stadium...

Not the night Philbin would have wanted

While results are often of secondary importance in matches like this, Warrington will have wanted to celebrate Joe Philbin’s contribution to the club in a better way.

A strong crowd of just over 7,000 turned up hoping to feel encouraged by how things were looking with the new season just a fortnight away, but the only ones that could leave satisfied were the travelling Leigh Leopards fans.

Adriam Lam’s side will be among Wire’s rivals for a spot in the play-offs this year and based on this evidence, there is plenty of work to be done as Leigh looked more physical and fluent.

Given Sam Burgess took his front-line first-teamers off after 40 minutes, it is difficult to really gauge much from the contest as a whole and while conscious not to overreact, he will have wanted to see more than he did from his star players.

Joe Philbin takes centre stage before kick-off (Image: Mike Boden)

Important to learn from early sloppiness

After the club’s youngsters shone against Widnes last week, assistant coach Martin Gleeson explained that the necessity of avoiding the cheap turnover of possession was really being drummed in during training.

However, it looks as though the message hasn’t quite sunk in just yet based on the sloppy opening quarter Wire produced.

Any attempts to build pressure or even escape their own half were compounded by errors and ill-discipline while Leigh’s middle unit were dominant, meaning Edwin Ipape could cause chaos from the quick rucks they created.

Again, some of this can be put down to the blowing-off of cobwebs and this display will soon be forgotten if the season starts well, but it is vital they learn lessons from this.

Wire spent lengthy periods out of possession in the first half (Image: Mike Boden)

Work to do with the ball

The aforementioned sloppiness meant it was well into the game’s second quarter before Wire were able to build any sort of pressure with the ball.

When they did, they managed to turn the screw and finished the first half positively, with James Harrison crashing over to halve Leigh’s lead.

While that came from simply bashing the door down, there were signs of some attacking shape and a new system in which George Williams is free to swing to either side of the ruck.

There were timing issues which meant it looked a little clunky a lot of the time but when it was made to stick, they managed to cause Leigh some problems on the edges.

You could see what they were trying to do, but there is work to be done.

James Harrison is congratulated after scoring in the first half (Image: Mike Boden)

Youngsters show the way

Arguably the biggest positive Burgess could take from this run-out was the performance of younger members of his squad in the second half.

With the exception of Josh Drinkwater, Sam Powell and Gil Dudson among others, the team that played after half time was a youthful one and it was academy winger Frank Sergent, who probably would not have played if Matty Ashton had remained in the team, who got himself a moment to remember by scoring a try.

They competed well despite Leigh leaving plenty of their first-teamers out there initially before gradually bringing them off and probably created more openings than their more senior colleagues.

Jake Thewlis and Arron Lindop were denied by excellent last-ditch defending, Max Wood put in another display of aggression and Cai Taylor-Wray was once again a livewire at full-back.

Max Wood comes forward during the second half (Image: Mike Boden)

More centre trouble?

It is the area in which the biggest change has been undertaken for 2024, but already Wire’s depth in the centres is being tested.

They are already set to be without new signing Rodrick Tai for Round One while Stefan Ratchford is also touch and go – and there may be another concern stemming from this game.

Connor Wrench enjoyed a largely positive game and made some key defensive interventions while looking lively with the ball, but he spent 10 minutes in the sin bin for a first-half high tackle on Gareth O’Brien.

There will now be a nervous wait to see whether or not the Match Review Panel takes a dim view of the tackle, but any ban he receives would leave Wire on a sticky wicket in the three-quarters.