If Channel 4 were hoping for a game that had a bit of everything to mark the start of its Super League coverage, they will have been delighted with what they witnessed.
For the first time in the competition’s history Super League was shown to the masses on free-to-air television and with an impressive build-up and fanfare from the broadcaster all week, when the hooter sounded at 12.30pm, the onus fell on the players to follow suit.
They did not disappoint. You feared the worst after 16 minutes, when Leeds were reduced to 12 men after a tackle from James Bentley of the kind the sport’s authorities are determined to stamp out this year. With the quality Warrington possess it almost felt inevitable they would pull away and make the contest somewhat one-sided.
But although Leeds ultimately fell short here, they should certainly be content with the effort they displayed and the role they played in what was a thrilling game for Channel 4 to showcase. “I’m incredibly proud of our boys,” their coach, Richard Agar, said. “We deserved to get something out of the game, but just energy-wise it got us. We dominated them for the best part of the game and were unfortunate not to get a result.”
He certainly has a point, not least when you consider Leeds also played part of the first half with 11 men, after Brad Dwyer was sent to the sin-bin for a high tackle.
They were 4-0 behind when Bentley was sent off after Gareth Widdop’s opening try, but the Rhinos rallied to incredible effect. Tries from Zane Tetevano and Matt Prior, both created by the industrious Dwyer, made it 12-4 in their favour. Warrington reduced that gap on the stroke of half-time when Josh Charnley finished a fine move in the right corner.
There is little doubting that to that point, Daryl Powell’s first game as Warrington coach had not gone to plan. “We got rattled and we weren’t playing well,” he said of his side’s first-half display. This was as much about Leeds as it was Warrington, though. Any notion they would wilt after half-time failed to come to fruition and they went further ahead in the early stages of the second half.
Their next try came when Ash Handley grounded a pinpoint kick from Aidan Sezer. Rhyse Martin converted and he would then add a penalty after Oliver Holmes became the third player to receive a card from Chris Kendall when he was sent to the sin-bin for a high tackle. Leeds were 20-10 ahead and were increasingly good value for that advantage.
Warrington had to wake up and as the game edged towards the final 10 minutes they did. “Ultimately, we did some good things to win the game,” Powell said. : “You have to change your mentality with 10 minutes left and we started to do some of the things we should have done a bit earlier.”
As Warrington chanced their arm, the openings in the exposed Leeds defence began to appear despite their magnificent effort. The Wolves reduced the gap to four when Charnley claimed his second try after Warrington kept the ball alive and you felt the pressure would prove decisive.
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Leeds fought valiantly but the winning try arrived with four minutes remaining, as Connor Wrench cut through. Stefan Ratchford still had to convert, but he did so from out wide expertly to make it 22-20. There were late chances for a Leeds try to snatch victory, but Warrington held on.
The only people more satisfied than the Wolves, you suspect, were Channel 4. Their debut certainly delivered in terms of drama and entertainment. They will hope that continues all season long, as will any rugby league supporter.
