Warrington Wolves 22 Wakefield Trinity 38: How Mason Lino put coach Willie Poching’s plan into action
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Trinity followed up their opening win of the season against Toulouse with a well-deserved success and their first victory at Warrington since July 2014, with Lino claiming a crucial second-half try and landing seven goals from seven attempts.
Poching said: “Mason was good all day. His running threat was dangerous and he kicked well to find us field position.
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Hide Ad“Throughout the week he marshalled the troops and nailed the plan we were after and got everyone to follow him.
“He is the general, the half-back you’re after and that was close to one of his best games for Wakefield.”
On his 150th appearance for Wakefield, Matty Ashurst claimed a try with others coming from Liam Hood, Jordan Crowther and Corey Hall and Poching felt the previous week’s win over Toulouse had released some pressure on his team.
Poching added: “As tough and as nervy as the game was against Toulouse last week it gave us some breathing space and some indication of what we can do if we apply the same effort.
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Hide Ad“There was a nice relaxed approach to the game in preparation for today after a bit of pressure release after the Toulouse game.
“I was pretty happy with the performance today, not fully satisfied, but really happy to get the result and see the guys stay in the fight.
“You have to keep playing right through to the end against a side with the quality Warrington have and we did that.
“Some of our defence was off, particularly at the start, and to have the opposition pick a hole through your middle so early on can be alarming.
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Hide Ad“But fortunately we were able to respond with a try and got to put some scoreboard pressure on them. And then to manufacture the win by making the adjustments necessary says a lot of how we have grown as a group.”
Warrington coach Daryl Powell again questioned his team’s composure after their third straight Super League defeat.
Powell said: “We get rattled so quickly and almost lose everything. There’s a real lack of composure in the team under pressure.
“We conceded some really soft and ridiculous tries on our own line and it’s so disappointing I can’t explain it to be honest.
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Hide Ad“I understand the frustrations of the supporters, we win our first few games and then we have two really poor home performances against Catalans and today.
“It’s just not good enough and we have to win a game next week against the same guys it’s as simple as that.
“Change doesn’t happen on its own and the challenge to the playing group is they have to change things pretty quickly.
“There’s some key things we have to fix up and it starts with me and for the players to focus on their job on a consistent basis.
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Hide Ad“I don’t think at any point during the game were we doing anything consistently well in attack or defence to be able to win that game.”
Warrington: Ratchford, Thewlis, Mata’utia, King, Ashton, Widdop, Williams, Hughes, Walker, Cooper, Currie, Holmes, Davis. Subs (all used): Philbin, Clark, Longstaff, Butler.
Wakefield: Escare, Kay, Lyne, Hall, Johnstone, Miller, Lino, Crowther, Pitts, Ashurst, Fifita, Arona, Hood. subs (all used): Whitbread, Batchelor, Battye, Tanginoa.
Referee: Robert Hicks
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