Warrington Wolves talking points after Leeds Rhinos win

Leeds Rhinos were beaten 30-18 at The Halliwell Jones Stadium on Thursday night to allow The Wire to move - temporarily at least - into standalone second place in Super League.

Here, our Wire reporter Matt Turner picks out five key talking points from the action in "The Morning After"...

Job done

That probably sums this evening up for Warrington Wolves.

They were by no means disappointing, but their performance probably falls into the “solid if unspectacular” box.

It certainly wasn’t as spectacular as it threatened to be early on and things got a little nervier than they would have liked, but was a game that rarely – if ever – slipped out of their control.

They will take the positives, look at the things where they could be cleaner and move on in the knowledge that they have improved their position in the table.

Their job either side of the international break was to rebuild their momentum both in terms of result and performance. Mission accomplished.

(Image: SWPix.com)

Another lightning-fast start

For the second week in a row, Wire treated their home fans to a rapid opening to the contest.

Ruthless in punishing an early error from their visitors, Leeds had the ball for precisely two tackles before they presented Warrington with the chance to inflict damage.

The next time they touched the ball, they were 12-0 down and all but out of the contest.

The fact Wire did not keep their foot on the Rhinos’ throats will go down as something of a disappointment, but their start gave them an element of command that rarely slipped.

Sam Burgess will be pleased with how his side are starting matches and if they can continue flying out of the traps, it will only serve them well.

This Matt Dufty try gave Wire a 12-0 lead with only five minutes on the clock (Image: SWPix.com)

The Matt Dufty show

This could be something of a subtitle to the Warrington Wolves 2024 story, such has been his impact and general transformation.

Once again in this game, everything good Wire did had the full-back’s pawprints all over it.

Another brace of tries takes him to 16 in all competitions this season – past his total for 2023 already – while he once again topped the metre-making charts for the game, although he may be slightly annoyed to finish just one metre shy of the magic 200 mark.

It is incredible to think there are still people who remain unconvinced by Dufty, but it is clear he is integral to how this team operates with the ball.

The collective intake of breath the ground takes whenever he stays down after taking a knock tells you all you need to know.

Matt Dufty races clear to score the first of his two tries (Image: SWPix.com)

A nervous wait incoming

With injuries starting to pile up, Sam Burgess will have wanted to escape from this game with no new fitness issues as well as the two points.

He didn’t quite manage that with Jordy Crowther aggravating his ankle injury, and he will also face a nervous wait for the Match Review Panel’s findings on Monday.

George Williams’ sin-binning for a high tackle in the second half not only put his side in a hole in the short-term, but it may cause them some issues longer-term should the panel take a dim view of the incident.

Williams has previous on the disciplinary front, serving a ban as recently as last month, and with some huge games coming up, Warrington can ill-afford to be without their star half-back.

George Williams leaves the field having been shown the yellow card (Image: SWPix.com)

Now for the big tests

St Helens away. Wigan away. Hull KR at home.

That is the run of fixtures Warrington now face and as we have previously mentioned, they have done their job of rebuilding their momentum going into them.

Now, we will find out a little bit more about the team’s readiness to continue challenging not just for a top-four spot, but a place in the top two.

As things sit currently, Wigan are very much in pole position for the League Leader’s Shield but the race for second – equal in terms of play-off privilege – is one Wire are very much in.

If they can emerge from that run with a couple of victories, they will be in a fantastic position in which to attack the remainder of the season.

Ben Currie and Matt Dufty celebrate at full-time (Image: SWPix.com)