NICE COOL DRINK
Josh refused to let his emotions spill over
JOSH DRINKWATER could have thrown a wobble about being dropped but stayed calm and is now firing up Warrington once again.
The Aussie scrum-half was left out by Sam Burgess after returning from a thigh injury earlier this season.
But when youngster Leon Hayes suffered a horror ankle fracture dislocation, he returned after an eight-game absence in Friday’s 24-6 win against Hull.
And Drinkwater, 31, now takes on red-hot Hull KR as Warrington bid to move clear at the top of Super League.
On being axed, the ex-Catalans star said: “It was tough. The injury wasn’t great and coming back from that, it was hard to change the team.
“Leon was doing such a great job and the team was going so well.
“Sam stuck with Leon and I totally understood that. Yes, I was frustrated. I want to play and I’m a competitor.
“But I just thought, ‘I can’t spit the dummy out, you have to keep training well, prepare each week and if that opportunity comes, you’ve got to be ready’. That was my mindset.”
Warrington are in second place behind champions Wigan but they are two of six teams all sharing 14 points.
St Helens, Hull KR, Catalans and Salford are the others but Rovers are arguably in the best form of them all.
They defeated Saints 40-20 on Saturday having beaten World Club champions Wigan the week before and, like Warrington, are also in next weekend’s Challenge Cup semi-finals.
Drinkwater, who played the 2019 season for the Robins before rejoining Catalans, said: “The table is really close.
“Hull KR have emerged as the form team in the comp the last few weeks.
“They have had some good wins. A few weeks ago we got the win at their place and they’ll be wanting to come here and do what we did to them.”
Drinkwater is out of contract at the end of the season and is unsure where his future lies.
He added: “I haven’t signed anywhere. Things will take care of themselves as they happen.
“I’m not stressed about it. I’ve known about it for a while.
“I’ll string a few games together and I’ve been around a while, so every Super League team knows what I’m about. If they need a half-back, they’ll come knocking. If not, it is what it is.”