Sthelens RLFC wrote:
I personally think that their best is better than ours at the moment. It's very rare two teams both produce their best but if Wire do, I can't see us winning. However, they've shown many times, including a few this season, that they don't always play to the best of their ability.
Whilst that's a pretty sensible statement, I may be inclined to disagree for the following reason.
Warrington are a BIG team and have been playing some excellent rugby, but do you remeber when the bulls would be in the same position? They got so used to bullying teams off the park that often when a team like Saints were bouyed by the big occasion (a final, perhaps), adrenaline made up for the lack of weight and our classier players were able to win through.
Obviously, Wire's backs are better than the likes of Nathan McAvoy and Scott Naylor , but you get my drift. When I've seen them lose, its because the opposition have muscled up an extra 10% and frustrated them - the next thing you know they reverted to their former seasons' tactic of forcing wild offloads at every chance and trying to score off every play.
Perhaps, with a couple of lads back (Perry being the main one), we can gear up to give this sort of extra hard performance upfront and put them in that position where they'll sacrifice vital position and posession.
If we managed it, it would be a massive point in our season IMO. Something we are capable of, but it will take some real motivation and focus.
Saying all that, being "up" for the big occasion doesn't seem high on our list of qualities at the moment.