Warrington Wolves player stats from Round 11 Hull KR win

The 20-8 Round 11 victory over Hull KR was arguably their most impressive Super League result to date, and the Super League player stats from the game go some way to showing us how it was achieved.

Here’s a few things we noticed from a look at the figures…

On the back foot but carrying a greater threat

On paper at least, Hull KR edged the game in terms of possession while they also completed at a higher rate and had more play-the-balls inside Wire’s 20-metre area than the hosts had in theirs.

However, it was clear Warrington carried the greater threat with ball in hand, evidenced by the red-hot opening half-hour in which they racked up an 18-0 lead that proved decisive.

They got to carry the ball fewer times than their opponents (197 compared to KR’s 212) but made more of it in terms of metres (1,465m to 1,377m).

That means that, on average, Wire’s players made almost one metre more per carry on average than their adversaries (7.43m compared to 6.49m).

Defensive grit

The effort to keep Hull KR at arm’s length in the second half was another display of the vastly improved attitude in defence Warrington have displayed this year.

They made more tackles (352-344) but missed fewer than their opponents (29-34) meaning they edged the tackle success percentage stakes (92-91).

Crucially, though, their line was broken only three times in the entire game. By contrast, Wire were able to make eight line breaks.

In terms of individual numbers, the top tackler on the field was Hull KR’s Dean Hadley, who made 52 tackles with James Batchelor (41) and Jai Whitbread (39) all notching high figures.

Matty Nicholson (41) once again came out on top for Wire followed by Danny Walker (34) and Lachlan Fitzgibbon (33).

Back five a key weapon again

Wire’s back five may have been giving away a bit in size compared to Hull KR, but they certainly made more impact.

Unsurprisingly, Matt Dufty (216) was the game’s leading metre-maker again as he cleared the 200m mark for the fifth time in Super League this season.

Every member of the Wire three-quarter line reached three figures – Matty Ashton made 147m, Toby King and Josh Thewlis both came in at 130m while Rodrick Tai clocked 109m.

Combined, that made for 732m from 85 carries at an impressive average of 8.61m each. By contrast, the Robins back five made 640m from 81 carries for an average of 7.90m each.

Matt Dufty made more than 200m for the fifth time in Super League this year (Image: PA Wire)

Thewlis’ incredible effort

It may have surprised some that, despite all three of Wire’s tries coming down the left edge, it was their right winger that skipped away with Sky Sports’ man of the match prize.

It even surprised Josh Thewlis himself, but you will not find too many arguing with the decision such was the impact he made.

In defence, he made several try-saving interventions with his sprint in-field to shut down Jez Litten’s break particularly eye-catching.

He has another new centre partner in Rodrick Tai, but the two have looked well connected on both sides of the ball in the past couple of weeks.

Thewlis’ 130m came at a staggering average of 11.81m per carry as he played a crucial role in getting his side away from their own line while he also broke nine tackles, more than anyone on the field.

Another perfect night from the kicking tee boosted his vastly-improving accuracy from the tee as well – he has now landed 19 of his last 21 attempts at goal.

Add all of that together and the result is a superb individual display from a player who is becoming better and more rounded by the week.