Warrington Wolves talking points after Round One Catalans loss

Catalans Dragons emerged victorious at the Stade Gilbert Brutus despite playing the entire second half of the Round One clash with 12 men following Michael McIlorum's red card.

For Warrington and their new head coach Sam Burgess, there is much to ponder after the game - but was there also lots to build on?

Here's some key takeaways and talking points from the 16-10 defeat in Perpignan...

An opportunity missed?

They may have gone into this game as underdogs, but Warrington will leave Perpignan wondering what might have been.

Although there is plenty of proof that having a player sent off is perhaps not the disadvantage it is made out to be at times, it cannot be denied that they have passed up a golden chance to claim a notable scalp.

It was far from all bad, indeed there was plenty to like about the Wire performance, particularly in the first half when they defended their line superbly and looked a threat with the ball.

However, not for the first time, the opposition having a man sent off appeared to cloud their clarity.

When calm heads were needed, Wire lost theirs – not quite to the dramatic extent of previous occasions, but they were never able to exert enough pressure to exploit their numerical advantage.

Discipline a real issue

It was perhaps fitting that the difference between the two sides on the scoreboard was three Arthur Mourgue goals, two of which were penalties.

It speaks to what was arguably the biggest failing of Warrington’s in the south of France – their discipline.

Time after time, they fell foul of referee Chris Kendall whether it was through frantic attempts to gain control of the ruck or by being too overzealous in trying to keep Catalans inside their own half.

Perhaps symptomatic of the whole evening was Paul Vaughan conceding a penalty whilst in possession immediately after Matt Dufty had scored to keep his side alive – another example of Catalans finding it all too easy to regain the momentum.

Sam Burgess has been open about wanting to see his side nail the very basics of rugby league and staying on the right side of legal is one of those.

On this evidence, there is clearly work to do on that score.

Concerns grow about the middle unit

If you gathered a group of Warrington fans and asked them about their squad for 2024, many of them will have expressed concerns about the pack.

The middle unit has lost size and depth via Tom Mikaele and Sam Kasiano’s departures while Matty Nicholson and Luke Thomas are ruled out through injury.

The pre-season friendly against Leigh did little to quell fears of there not being enough size in the Wire six, and this first competitive outing will do even less.

That was not initially the case as Wire started well – James Harrison’s first stint in particular was impressive while Vaughan put in his usual lung-busting stint of more than an hour and Jordy Crowther was busy before being harshly sin-binned late on.

However, that all changed when Catalans summoned Chris Satae from the bench. Almost single-handedly, he caused Wire’s command of the ruck to start slipping away and then completely disappear.

If they are to hang with the big boys literally and figuratively, they need to find a way of staying in that arm-wrestle for longer.

An eventful but proud night for Lindop

If anyone was putting any money on who would open Wire’s try-scoring account for 2024, you would have got pretty long odds on Arron Lindop.

The 17-year-old local lad scored a superbly-taken try to mark his senior debut, but he certainly had an eventful evening.

Jordan Abdull – notorious for his vicious high kicks – took it upon himself to rain such bombs down on the youngster all evening and it caused some shaky moments, not least when he and Matt Dufty left one for each other, allowing Abdull to sneak in and score.

Still, even being handed a debut in the Catalans cauldron on the opening day of the season is a demonstration of the belief Wire have in the prodigiously talented teenager and he can be proud of how he acquitted himself.

He will no doubt be better for this experience ahead of what could be a very bright future.

Something to build on?

As mentioned previously, this was not all “doom and gloom” for Warrington.

While there are plenty of things about their performance that can be questioned, their effort was not one of them. In the early stages of their tenure, that is all a head coach can ask for. Anyone expecting a slick and polished display in Round One is perhaps asking for too much of any side.

That alone can form the most basic of foundations for Wire to build on, and we can only hope the rest will follow.

Burgess will have been happy with what he saw in the first half too and to move forward, that has to be carried through an entire 80 minutes.

With home games against Hull FC and Castleford Tigers coming up next, supporters and coaches alike will be expecting to see growth and development.