Warrington Wolves 36 Hull FC 10, key talking points

They were able to stretch away from 12-man Hull FC on Friday night to get the Sam Burgess era underway in earnest.

Here, our Wire reporter Matt Turner picks out five key talking points and takeaways from the 36-10 victory...

Wire find another gear eventually

By hook or by crook, Warrington Wolves just need to get themselves on the board tonight.

It may have been a bit nervier than many would have wanted and expected but in the end, they managed to click into gear.

While all the talk will be about how disadvantaged their opponents were both before and during the game, but Wire have come a cropper in these situations before.

Just last week, they were beaten by a team playing for half the game with 12 men. You can also pull up plenty of examples of teams turning up to face them with a plethora of key men missing but riding away victorious.

There was still a job to be done and eventually, they did it with relative comfort in conditions that were not really conducive to the free-flowing display demanded by some.

Of course, there is still work to do but having been undone by 12 men last week, there are signs of lessons being learned.

Sam Powell celebrates the try that started Wire's late flourish (Image: Mike Boden)

A new low for the ‘new normal?’

Warrington may have got the win but to the wider rugby league-watching public, the entire game was overshadowed by the red card shown to Hull FC’s Nu Brown.

There are so many strands to this, including whether the incident would have even been picked up had the head clash not drawn blood from Ben Currie.

And then there is the contact itself – clearly accidental but with referees under instruction to clamp down on contacts with the head, even ones as innocuous as this, it passes the threshold set for dismissal.

The referees deserve some sympathy – they are only applying the laws they are bound by, but it is the laws themselves that are frustrating so many.

Of course, the sport needs to protect its players and in particular their heads, necks and spinal columns. That is of paramount importance.

But in what many have described as the biggest “game’s gone” moment among a truckload of them in the opening couple of rounds, is rugby league in danger of losing what makes it great in the cause?

Ben Currie in pain as he reaches for his eye following the collision that saw Hull's Nu Brown sent off (Image: Mike Boden)

Vaughan leads from the front again

The cornerstone of the Warrington pack shows absolutely no sign of slowing down.

Superb off the bench in Perpignan last week, perhaps even moreso having been restored to the starting line-up this week, Paul Vaughan was once again influential for his side.

The sign of a good prop is that your second stints are just as good if not better than your first, and it was the return of Vaughan and James Harrison from the bench that helped Wire kick into overdrive.

Those two alongside enthusiastic and aggressive debutant Max Wood helped the hosts plough through a game but tiring home side, meaning they could finally press home the advantage they had.

A mammoth 187 metres made – comfortably higher than any other player on the field – showed once again just how important a player Vaughan continues to be.

Paul Vaughan made a massive 186 metres against Hull FC (Image: SWPix.com)

Red letter day for the academy

All of the pre-match talk was about the youngsters Hull FC were fielding for this game, but this was quite a notable night for the homegrown members of the Wire squad.

Indeed, the final matchday 17 included seven products of the club’s academy, plus Warrington-born skipper-for-the-night Danny Walker and senior debutant Max Wood.

Furthermore, four of those academy graduates made up the right edge in Josh Thewlis, Connor Wrench, Adam Holroyd and Leon Hayes, who once again performed admirably in filling the sizeable boots of George Williams.

He looks set for a run in the side now with Williams set for a couple of weeks out and on this evidence, he appears ready to grab his chance with both hands.

Leon Hayes was one of seven academy graduates in the Wire 17 (Image: Mike Boden)

Wood impresses again

After a couple of stand-out showings in the pre-season friendlies, supporters have been wondering if and when the man signed after a successful trial having been let go by Wigan would get a chance in Super League.

He’s only had to wait a couple of weeks, and Max Wood was another to grasp hold of his opportunity.

After a brief spell as a concussion replacement for Ben Currie, it was his second-half stint at loose forward that really caught the eye.

He was direct and forceful in his carries, regularly poking his nose through and making impressive metres after contact.

Will he keep his place going forward? He’s certainly done his chances no harm.