Fine Lines BLAKE PLAYING WITH FIRE
Warrington ....... 26 Hull KR .............. 14 by Julie Stott
BLAKE AUSTIN was right on the edge again as red-hot Warrington made it two wins from two.
The Wolves’ new talisman diced with danger in last week’s win over Leeds, with the match review panel looking at two incidents involving him.
He wasn’t charged for either tackle but he might not be so lucky this time after a flop on grounded Joel Tomkins.
The Aussie stand-off copped 10 minutes in the sin-bin, while Rovers captain Tomkins was taken away by ambulance with a serious concussion.
Rovers coach Tim Sheens said: “He hit him that hard that it put him in hospital.
“Joel is a sick boy and he is in a bad way so we are concerned about him. The player concerned has something to worry about.”
But Warrington coach Steve Price said: “I thought the Blake incident was just being aggressive. I could not see anything wrong with it from where I was sitting.”
Austin is the third Warrington player in two games to get a yellow card but once again they survived to take the win.
Their fine-line style might cost them victory at some point, however, despite Price’s claims there is little wrong with their aggression.
He added: “What gives me confidence is that we have played with 12 men for nearly 30 minutes over the two weeks and won both games.
“I am pleased with the points but I am not happy with the performance. We did what we had to do to knock out a win.
“But throughout the game we made it too comfortable for them at times. We expect better standards.” Rovers clinched a last-gasp win over city rivals Hull FC last week and they showed the same fighting spirit here. A team that many had predicted would struggle this season twice took the lead with tries from Ben Crooks and Craig Hall, their second coming while Austin was off the field following his late challenge on Tomkins. Warrington matched them for first-half tries from Harvey Livett and a 100th Super League touchdown from Tom Lineham. But they led 12-8 at the break thanks to Stefan Ratchford converting both, whereas Josh Drinkwater missed his two efforts. Warrington looked to get into their stride in the second half with a second try from Livett after Rovers full-back Chris Atkin dropped an Austin bomb.
Josh Charnley put them into a 14-point lead when he intercepted an Atkin pass and raced 90m.
But Rovers refused to buckle and Jimmy Keinhorst got the home nerves rattling.
The hero of last week’s win darted over, with Aussie Drinkwater kicking his first goal. Warrington looked open to another possible body blow but hung in and struck Rovers with a killer finish. Prop Mike Cooper dived over after combining superbly with Chris Hill – with Ratchford adding his fourth goal.
Sheens said: “We created opportunities but just did not finish them. If we were not creating opportunities there would be something to worry about.”