Warrington Wolves stand-outs from Wakefield Trinity win

They may not have been completely happy with their performance against bottom side Wakefield Trinity, but they came away with a 32-18 victory to bounce back from successive defeats against St Helens and Wigan Warriors prior to the international break.

Here, our Warrington Wolves reporter Matt Turner picks his five stand-out Wire players from the game…

MATTY ASHTON

My man of the match would have gone to the man who capped off a good week for him personally the only way he knows how.

A senior England debut on Saturday, a new deal on Wednesday and now a brace of well-taken tries on Friday.

The second of his tries showed where he really can be dangerous – sniffing around the middle of the field, picking out gaps between tired bodies and using his electrifying pace to burst through them.

Add that to his enthusiastic yardage carries and you have a player who continues to grow into his role.

He ran for 202 metres – more than anyone else on the field and the second time he has passed the 200 mark for metres made in a single game this season.

Matty Ashton touches down for the first of his two tries (Image: Mike Boden)

JOSH THEWLIS

To the surprise of many, Thewlis was named in his preferred position of full-back in place of the benched Matt Dufty.

There were some nervy moments, in particular spilling a high kick under no pressure to hand Wakefield the field position that led to Kelepi Tanginoa’s equalising try, but in the main, he let nobody down.

All he could do was give Daryl Powell something to think about in his performance and he certainly did that as he showed why many feel he is the future of Warrington’s number one shirt.

The first of his two early tries was all of his own making, picking a gap and accelerating through it while his second came about by doing as all good full-backs should, supporting a break through the middle from James Harrison to go under the sticks.

Josh Thewlis dives over for his second try (Image: Mike Boden)

JOE BULLOCK

This was a solid return from injury for the former Wigan man as he looks back to the promising early-season form he showed before breaking his thumb.

His 117 metres made was the highest of any Wire forward while he also played for lengthy, error-free minutes either side of half time.

Defensively too, he did little wrong, making 23 tackles without missing one.

He was arguably the most effective of Wire’s bench forwards and Daryl Powell will no doubt feel happy with how he went.

Joe Bullock takes in a first-half carry (Image: Mike Boden)

PAUL VAUGHAN

Whether quietly or spectacularly, Vaughan always seems to be effective.

This game probably fell into the former category as he put in a more under-the-radar shift than we have become used to seeing.

With more rotation available to Daryl Powell, Vaughan did not have to produce the kind of lung-busting stint that he has been churning out, but he still managed to post more than 100 run metres once again.

Indeed, he has passed that mark in all but one of the 10 games he has played – the kind of remarkable consistency that has made him a fans’ favourite already.

Paul Vaughan made more than 100 metres again (Image: Mike Boden)

DANNY WALKER

Depending on who you believe, a future in which Walker is Wire’s undisputed first-choice number nine is getting closer as rumours continue swirl about Daryl Clark’s future.

In Clark’s continued injury-enforced absence, however, he once again showed why many feel he is more than ready for that responsibility.

A quietly effective stint from the newly-capped England international, who showed a little more willingness to run the ball than usual while showing his usual defensive aptitude.

Honourable mentions

After a poor first half by his own sky-high standards, George Williams came alive when Wire needed him to and worked as hard as he always does – a team-high 21 carries for 171 metres to go with his try and two assists.

Matty Russell too was generally effective in bringing the ball out of yardage, save for one key first-half error while Ben Currie had a fair game on the left edge.

George Williams touches down in the second half (Image: Mike Boden)

We are currently running a flash sale for digitial subscriptions to the Warrington Guardian website - CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO

By signing up before Tuesday, you will get full, unhindered access to our unrivalled Warrington Wolves coverage for six months at a cost of just £6

You will also benefit from an ad-light, faster-loading web page as well as much more subscriber-only content