Warrington Wolves hooker calls for patience against St Helens

Super League’s top two meet at the Totally Wicked Stadium, with Warrington just ahead of their neighbours on points difference with both teams having won eight of their nine games.

The Wire are in great point-scoring form – they boast the competition’s most potent attack and are averaging just over 33 points per game.

However, Clark is anticipating a tight game against last year’s League Leaders’ Shield winners and says Wolves will have to work hard for their points.

“We all like scoring points, getting assists and scoring tries,” he said.

“That’s the best part of the game but we know we’re not going to run away with games every week.

“We’re going to get tight games and we’re going to lose games. That’s just how it is.

“We feel like we’ve put two really good performances together. We’re a confident group and we’re scoring lots of points at the moment.

“We’ve shown glimpses of our best. The last two weeks have been our best performances but I still feel like we’re building.

“We know it’s going to be close throughout and very physical.

“We can’t afford to give away cheap ball. We need to control field position, be patient and take our chances when they come.

“It’s very rare Saints will lose back-to-back games. If we’re going to hand that to them, we’re going to have to be on it.”

Individually, the 26-year-old is in fine form – of his teammates, only Blake Austin and Stefan Ratchford have amassed more Steve Prescott MBE Man of Steel points than him.

Tomorrow, he will be in direct competition with fellow England international and St Helens captain James Roby.

Daryl Clark and James Roby go head-to-head on Friday

Along with Castleford’s Paul McShane, Clark and Roby are likely to feature prominently in discussions about who is selected for the season-ending Great Britain tour along with Josh Hodgson – the Canberra hooker who is seen as head coach Wayne Bennett’s first choice.

However, thoughts of that and any head-to-head battle with Roby are far from his mind.

> Our latest Q&A with Wire head coach Steve Price

“I don’t really concentrate on getting one over on the guy opposite me. Winning the game is enough for me,” he said.

“I focus on what I’m doing and getting things right at my end. If I do that, I’ll come out on top more often than not.

“Great Britain and things like that will take care of itself at the end of the year if I can build into the right form.

“Our forwards have been awesome all year. They are winning more carries than they are losing.

“As a hooker, it makes my game a lot easier playing behind them. It gives me a lot more options.”

Tomorrow’s game is the first of four in the space of 16 days for Steve Price’s men either side of the Easter period.

While some are already branding it as a Grand Final dress rehearsal, Clark insists it is too early for that kind of talk.

“It’s only early doors and nothing has been won yet. Every team has their dips throughout the year,” he said.

“We’ve not had ours yet and I’m pretty sure we will do at some point. it’s just about how we bounce out of it.

“Winning would send out a great message that we mean business.

“A two-point gap at the top would be a nice thing to have going into Easter and a busy period for us.”