Warrington Wolves talking points before Castleford Tigers visit

As usual, there are plots and sub-plots aplenty surrounding the Round Three clash between Warrington Wolves and Castleford Tigers at The Halliwell Jones Stadium tomorrow night.

Head coach Sam Burgess is adamant his Wire side are heading in the right direction, so can they continue that trend?

Our Wire reporter Matt Turner has picked out five key talking points ahead of the game and discusses them below...

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it

That is the attitude Sam Burgess has clearly taken this week having outlined his intention to name an unchanged 17.

It seems a fair enough call – the players called upon last week got the job done in terms of recording an ultimately comfortable win, making sure they took advantage of things falling in their favour.

For the young players within that 17, it is another boost for their confidence to know they have the backing of their head coach to learn on the job.

There were mistakes made last week – you will struggle to find a game where they’re not – but nailing his colours to the mast so emphatically when it comes to team selection is a big call from Burgess.

Now, he will be hoping his faith is vindicated as Wire look to continue building momentum.

Wire are expected to name an unchanged 17 for Friday's game (Image: Mike Boden)

Lessons learned for the right edge?

Having a first-team right edge entirely made up of the club’s most recent academy success stories on Friday was certainly a nice moment for those involved in their development.

Hull FC sensed opportunity in that area, however, and the unit of Adam Holroyd, Leon Hayes, Connor Wrench and Josh Thewlis was attacked almost exclusively and split open on a few occasions.

Burgess has acknowledged Castleford will no doubt look to do the same and on Friday, we will see if lessons have been learned.

Ben Currie was moved back to the edge in-game to replace Holroyd in an attempt to shore things up, but Burgess will no doubt hope not to have to bandage wounds this time around.

> Leon Hayes discusses being a defensive target in an exclusive interview with us here

Connor Wrench and Leon Hayes - seen here tackling Hull FC's Lewis Martin last week - will form part of a youthful right edge again (Image: SWPix.com)

Finding a way to keep the pressure on

A frustrating failing of Wire’s in the first two rounds has been their tendency to allow their opponents up the field too easily.

That has come either by way of loose tackle control to concede easy metres or offloads, or by the concession of yardage penalties.

This will no doubt be a cause of annoyance because, in general, Wire’s defence inside their own half has been good and when they have managed to keep the pressure on for extended periods over the first two rounds, the points have tended to follow.

Burgess has said on several occasions that the main objective at this stage is growth and development, and this will no doubt be one of the areas he is targeting.

Can interchange middles pick up the baton?

Paul Vaughan and James Harrison have been Warrington’s stand-out middle-unit players in the first two rounds. Of that, there can be no doubt.

The times Wire have been in the ascendency in games have coincided with them having either one or both of them on the pitch.

Of course, though, they can’t stay on for the full 80 minutes and that is where Zane Musgrove and Joe Philbin need to step up.

It is difficult to replicate the impact of Vaughan in particular, but they at least have to ensure there is no drop-off in intensity during that crucial middle stint either side of the break.

Having started in Round One against Catalans, Zane Musgrove came off the bench last week (Image: SWPix.com)

The key man Wire must keep quiet

Castleford certainly have their availability issues heading into the game, with skipper Paul McShane out injured, prop Liam Watts suspended and half-back Danny Richardson sitting out under concussion protocols.

However, there is a key dangerman still present – and Warrington know all about him.

Joe Westerman is one of the last “old school” loose forwards still out there, combining power with deft handling.

He was highly effective during his two-season spell at The Halliwell Jones Stadium across the 2016 and 2017 seasons and is now an indispensable member of Craig Lingard’s side.

Disrupting the key link between the forwards and backs he provides will surely form a huge part of Wire’s plan on Friday.

Former Wire forward Joe Westerman remains a key man for Castleford (Image: SWPix.com)