Key Warrington Wolves stats from St Helens play-off win

A look at the numbers from the game on the Super League website tells the tale of a hotly-contested clash that went right to the wire.

However, the only stat that matters – the final score – went Warrington’s way, but was there another that helped tip the balance?

Here’s a look at a few of the stats that jumped out to us…

Wire break free of Saints’ stranglehold

The teams were closely matched in pretty much every stat – average metres gained were similar (Wire 6.4m per carry, Saints 6.7m), as were the number of tackles made (Wire 356, Saints 359) and errors (Wire 10, Saints 9) among others.

However, the one areas in which there was a clear disparity between the two was the number of tackles the Warrington players were able to break.

In all, they recorded 50 tackle busts on the night – more than twice the number their visitors managed (22) – which meant they were often able to get themselves out of any danger.

Currie’s mammoth shift

Ben Currie’s revitalisation as a loose forward has been among the most satisfying parts of the 2024 campaign.

In recent weeks, his form has gone up a notch and in a near full-game shift through the middle, he put in a colossal effort yet again.

He topped the game’s tackle charts with a mammoth 54 tackles – by far his highest number for a Super League game this season – with just three misses to give a success rate of just under 95 per cent.

There were plenty more big defensive shifts among his teammates, too – Matty Nicholson (40), Danny Walker (35) and Luke Yates (33) were just behind him in terms of completed tackles.

Between those three, they missed just two tackles – one each for Nicholson and Yates.

Ben Currie made more than 50 tackles in a game for the first time this year (Image: Neil Ashurst/P&B Pictures)

Philbin changes the momentum

A look at Joe Philbin’s stats may not raise the eyebrows much, but his short but impactful stint was such a valuable one.

He did not come into the game until after half time, but he played a big role in turning the momentum in Warrington’s favour.

His 12 carries were the joint-most of any Wire forward – tied with Yates – and the 81 metres he managed to gain were the most among the big men in his side.

The good and the bad of Matt Dufty

As has become customary, Wire’s mercurial full-back led the way for metres gained (214m from 21 carries with two clean breaks) ahead of Matty Ashton (187m) and Toby King (123m).

St Helens could not keep a lid on him coming off his own line and he played a big part in getting his side out of trouble on several occasions to turn defence into attack.

However, he also showed why there are still those among the fanbase who are unconvinced despite his stellar season.

The one error he made was a key one, dropping a high ball under pressure to set Saints up for Mark Percival’s try.

With Hull KR – and Tyrone May in particular – having twice picked his pocket in the air to score tries this year, the Robins will have been watching that intently.

That came barely a minute after he had scythed through the defensive line with the score at 4-6 but opted to go on his own when Matty Ashton had a clear run to the line on his outside, leading to the attack fizzling out.

Of course, no player can get everything right and he still did more good than bad on the night, but those kinds of key moments get increasingly decisive at this stage of the year.

Matt Dufty made more than 200 metres again with the ball (Image: PA Wire)