Warrington Wolves players react to Grand Final defeat (From Warrington Guardian)

Warrington Wolves players react to Grand Final defeat

12:00pm Friday 12th October 2012 in Wolves news

 

Ben Westwood: “Tony Smith (coach) has told us to keep our chins up and we’ll buckle down to training in pre-season and go that step further next year.

“It’s a hard loss. To get so far and so close, it’s quite bad but we’ll get over it.

“There were a few opportunities that we didn’t take and Leeds played well. They took their chances and pipped us.

“Nobody can take away the kind of year we’ve had. We got to both finals, winning one and getting pipped in the other.

“It’s been the best year so far for us and we’re improving. That’s all anyone can ask.

“It would have been nice to finish it off with a win but feeling like this just makes you hungrier for next year.”

 

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Stefan Ratchford: “There was usual pre-matchnerves but the way we started the game I think it showed the occasion didn’t effect us more than any other game.

“It’s been a great first year at  the club, probably more than I could have asked for.

“The only thing that could have topped it off was this victory.

“The loss came on the back of our errors and a couple of penalties that were not really characteristic of us.

“We’ll come back from it stronger and hopefully go one game better.

“It was the first Grand Final for the club and for a lot of the players.

“I think the club as a whole will benefit from the experience.”

 

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Brett Hodgson: “I think up until half time it was a good even contest with both sides playing well at times and both sides making a couple of errors.

“In the second half we got ourselves into a position where we were leading and just failed to play good field position and do what you need to do – kick well, chase well and defend down at the opponents’ try line.

“Leeds know how to play this kind of football.

“It’s too early to talk about whether or not we’ll get back there or not. Next year is a whole different ball game.

“You need things to go your way, you need a bit of luck in terms of injuries and momentum.

“We’ll learn from it, there’s no doubt about that and I think it will make us stronger.

“Sometimes you just have to put your hand up and say we weren’t good enough today.

It’s good for experience if nothing else, playing in front of a great crowd and atmosphere.

“We’re hurting at the moment but we’ll be all right.”