24/04/2017 Super League Show

We have a programme of two parts made up from action of both of

Four top-flight teams have set off on the Challenge Cup leaving eight

teams and four fixtures in the Super League.

Joining us in the studio, Gareth Ellis from Hull

and Danny Hammond will give us their verdict on Super League

Gareth and Hull FC were up against the Super League leaders

He is on red alert as he skirts the line.

Scott Taylor, great forward, big power, that is an early try.

Shaul to Connor, great hands, into the corner.

Sneyd, Castleford know what is coming.

Tap back into the hands of Fonua and that is a simple finish.

And that was late from Liam Watts and in come the Castleford defence.

And there is a bit of pushing and shoving and Liam Watts,

Throws his wrist straps away in frustration.

Continues forward, almost up to the line.

Minichiello offers the ball away to Kelly.

Try and help them out on the right-hand side.

That might have been a high shot there from Paul McShane.

Marc Sneyd, coming a long way out, but he has absolutely hammered it.

All a bit flat at the line at the moment as Ben Roberts takes

the ball away to the right-hand side and manages to break through.

He has got Webster up in support, shovels the ball away to him.

Michael Shenton on the cusp of the hooter, gets the ball down.

Marc Sneyd, from the tee, clips it through coolly.

Here come Castleford again with Roberts.

Sneyd, bit of a loose pass to Kelly who hung one up.

A real skyscraping bomb, it will be caught on the left-hand side.

Continuing to raid the line, here goes Minikin.

So how are you feeling after that one?

A bit battered and bruised, as you would expect,

after three games in eight days, but like I said before,

But when you get a man going off after 20 minutes,

At that point, it is the best we have played all year.

We were 18-0 up, we got the ball, scored some really good tries,

all the things that you work on in training were coming off

for us, and we are busy, what happened around the 20 minute

mark, really threw a spanner in the works for us.

Were you surprised at the red card or from what you are seeing,

could you understand why it was given?

I don't think there was any intent there.

I think the circumstances of the tackle, the way

he was dragged down, he caught him in the face.

I thought originally he was going to give a yellow card,

but the red card came out, for ten minutes there,

we were in panic mode a little bit, but half-time could not

We sort of regrouped at half-time and the spirit the lads

showed in the second half was absolutely unbelievable.

And although you would not wish to go through that with 12 men,

particularly after Easter, what can getting a win like that

in those circumstances do for the rest of the season?

We spoke at half-time about this possibly being a defining

So often last year we got ourselves out of trouble by being resilient

and defending in that manner in which we did yesterday.

So hopefully the penny might have dropped and hopefully we will be

able to put in a few more performances like that,

hopefully not as tiring, but it would be nice to think

that this could be a bit of a kick-start for our season.

Danny, from Castleford's point of view, they are at the top,

they have shown some incredible form, but do they need to show

composure in times like that, if they are going to go on and win

I think it is often hard when you're up against a team with 12 as well,

because I think if you are playing and you're in the team with 12

you often get that little bit extra out of yourself.

It is going to be a bit more difficult, you've got

to turn up in places which you sometimes would not.

As for Castleford, they're not going to be at their best every week,

they started the season on fire, they had a couple of defeats now,

but I am sure the coach will be getting a reaction out

They will be looking to get back to winning ways,

but the competition is so even at the moment.

If you're off your game even 10%, you will come

So, they will be getting back on to the performances,

I guess, for you guys, it has been a funny old season.

You started quietly and looked fine and now you have that dip,

how would you sum up how you are and yet you're

still within striking distance of the top?

We don't feel that we have played well, not for 80 minutes anyway,

and we were picking up wins, early doors, which was really

important, it is always great to be picking up the two points,

in sloppy conditions early on in the season and then

obviously getting hammered, over Easter, by 50 points

I had to react from that and then we got the win against Leigh,

and then the win against the table toppers in Castleford and I said

before, hopefully this can be the kick-start for our season.

Now, you'll remember that Warrington started the season

with six straight defeats, but that turned around over Easter

and four games unbeaten meant they were the form team

The Wolves took on Wakefield and Dave Woods was watching.

England climbs to his feet, Kyle Wood, Wakefield going down

Finn with a pass, which has gone to ground, but Jowitt just

about snapping it up, keeping it under control.

Finn's kick deflected and into the path of Wood,

trying to get away from Hughes, gets a kick in and it will be

Wakefield have stunned in the HJ Stadium.

Moving forward with purpose again here.

Wakefield are enjoying their time in the sunshine at the moment.

Wood, quickly there at dummy half again, lovely little inside ball,

Jacob Miller is streaking through and he has support and

Warrington looking for a purpose, Ratchford gets it away.

What a fabulous individual try that is from Ryan Atkins. Pace and power.

And a touchdown to boot. Getting to his feet. Then, another of those

tantalising little cakes which he is so good at. Brown will take it, in

an offside position, the referee decides. He was caught initially by

hard they live it. -- Livett. This would put Warrington to score is

behind. Lee then right in between the uprights and Wakefield are

travelling well. Pounded forward again. Lovely little flicked offload

as they try and keep it alive here. And eventually shouting held. Would

spill a bit away. Finn offering it again. Johnston, he will not miss

from there. Lovely ball over the top, Johnston is over. Wakefield

smiles get broader. Brown, just on the left-hand side. Trying to create

some numbers. Brian act gives, a lovely little flecked by him.

Ratchford, still has it alive. Taken in eventually and Philbin will be

put down, but within sight of the Wakefield line. Here is Gidley.

Hammered forward by him. Four defenders around him. I think he

might be over, yes years. The referee says that Chris Hill has

somehow got that down. What an effort that was. Here is the

confirmation of that wonderful try by Chris Hills. Dwyer will take the

tap. Chris Hill looking for that pathway to the try line again. Held

up just short. Here is to wire, spins it right, little dummies shown

by Kevin Brown and they are back within touching distance now. Kevin

Brownback and a try scorer. The time is ticking away. Wakefield desperate

to hang on, but Warrington will throw everything at their opponents

to keep this winning run going. Evans is put down. Shuffle back

towards the middle again. Here it comes. Wide. Ratchford's ball over

the top. That might be a matchwinner. The late, late try has

yet to be given, though. He thinks it is a try, the referee, but it

needs a second look. This will make the difference, his feet are clearly

enclave. The touchdown is good and Warrington look as though they have

snatched it, right at the end. It is another way as they continue to

climb the table. You were shaking your head as the final pass went

over to Lineham. It is still quite painful watching it. We have done it

a few times, put ourselves in positions where we should be winning

the game and we have probably tried to see games out to match rather

than carry on playing the way we have been. Great bit of skill by

Ratchford with the pass. We felt they should never really have been

there, but disappointing after good performances at Easter but no

points, it is disappointing for us. When Lee Ratchford was talking about

you retreating into your shell, is that a similar thing, do you feel

that you're backing off? We have been guilty of that. They start

trying not to lose the game rather than doing the things that got you

into a commanding position to start with and ultimately, playing against

good teams, they will have a good crack at you and do things they

probably would not have done if the game was tighter. The double the

close game like that. Young Tom Johnson just seems

to get better and better by the week, what does he bring

into the team these days? He's just such an athlete,

so he will jump higher than most people, he's faster than most people

and he has got a lot braver over the last couple of seasons as well,

you can see that in his yardage, he challenges people, his footwork,

he's a big kid as well, you can see that in his

defence there, he's getting in front of people

and holding them up and he has earned us quite a few

turnovers like that. And then his finishing speaks

for itself and he's got great As have both of our

wingers to be fair. We know when we had John Kieran

and you had lost a couple and then you won 1, he said the boys needed

that because when you're losing

closely it's hard to take, are you keeping the spirit up

because you know the The feeling in the camp

is really good. Last season we had a lot of blow

out defeats where teams a lot of points on us,

this year I think we have been in most games, really,

even the Castleford game, we had a good second half

against them and Leeds are the only team who really put us

to the sword this year. You look at our points difference

compared to last year, it's a lot better but as I said

before, it's points on the board that matter most and we need

to learn from these little errors we make and start

to turn these performances Are you a little bit unsure

what to prepare for, first half, they were poor against Wakefield,

dropping the ball again, It's similar to a few weeks

ago, we have just got Having played so many games over

Easter, a lot of it is about as, how we prepare, how we get ready

for the game. We can't control what Warrington

team turn up but like you said earlier, they have great players,

that the potential to play how they did,

late on that game. Next up, Wigan who were at home

to Catalan, the Dragons have won their last two on the road

but could they win at Catalan on the attack

looking to the first Tom Davis is on the break here, has

he got the legs to go all the way? He's not going to catch him

and Davis is going to saunter his way under the posts

to give Wigan the lead. A good one-on-one tackle there,

Wigan have another opportunity here and it's with Davis once more,

can he get away from Gigot? Davis is going to get his second

try in three minutes. Wigan enjoying a great

spell of pressure here. Burgess spots the gap

and he is going to go through. Is this going to be

the moment for Catalan to get their first points

of the day? Goes to ground, he has done really

well to get that down. He has watched it and dropped it

and it's going to be Tony Gigot that will score and he won't even

mind slipping over. Anderson has caught it

and Louis Anderson is going to score, and from 16-0 down,

Catalan have turned this around! They have made a mess

of that, Catalan, and Wigan Lovely pass and Louis Anderson

is going to go over He has gone to ground but Forsyth

has done really well to pick that one up and he has backed himself

here, and he has scored Wigan, speeding things up

at the ruck and it's paying Joe Burgess will go over,

two tries in two minutes for Wigan. Can the Warriors find their way

further in front here? They are in a commanding

position now. Into the dying embers of the game

but Wigan fancy more. Williams has broken through,

feeds it inside for Liam Farrell and that's going to be a third

win in a row for Wigan. All of the tries scored by Wigan

were from academy products, is that the difference between them

and a lot of the other teams, I was going to say amazing,

but it's something we have come to expect from Wigan,

they keep churning quality players out, year after year,

players seem to come and go there, but the quality that

comes in is exceptional. Both wingers,

absolutely outstanding. The first year I have

seen them playing, Catalan looked a little tired

in the last 20 minutes? I think with them travelling around,

over the Easter period, it might have taken more out of them

than it has other teams, just missing key players,

and the spine of the team has come back together now,

Gigot back at fullback Now, St Helens beat the league

leaders Castleford on Easter Monday, five days later they faced

Widnes Vikings who started Moving through their tackles,

moving a little closer. It's bounced off a St Helens player,

I think, and Joe Mellor is in to score a fortuitous

first Widnes try. Widnes defence, just on the rack

a little at the moment. Matty Smith goes to the left-hand

side, he looked to drop it and then he has caught it again

and that is a try! And the fumble may have put

the Widnes defence off. The dummy shown but not accepted

by the St Helens defenders who are in to meet and greet

in compromising fashion. Really good pass from Runciman

and they are claiming the try. We're going to have

to have a second look. I think there's a confidence

on the field that this is going to be OK as a touchdown

but a double-take doesn't go amiss, and that a spectacular

finish from Ah Van. He is going to go left

here, St Helens through If this is given, it

will be a timely moment That shot suggests he has,

it is a try and just before Percival to make it all square

and he puts it over so it will be Ah Van and Lee just exchanging

glances that, but it's all OK. St Helens look to punch

a hole through the middle. St Helens look to get up

and running, and offside. St Helens coaching staff

have to stand to let Percival with the chance

to give his side the lead They have been under terrific

pressure here, Widnes. And they find themselves again

with a lot of work to do to get away from the troublesome end

of the field. Trying to create a dent

in that St Helens line. It's a good, strong leg drive

that has taken Widnes The grubber kick is testing

from Mellor, Swift catches it but Widnes have forced the dropout

underneath the sticks. What a terrific set of six that is,

to go the length of the field. Walker, quick as a flash,

but equally Smith, Down the blindside they go,

and Patrick Ah Van with his second try of the game, might just have

snatched it for Widnes! It's the second win of the season

for the Widnes Vikings What a gutsy performance

from them tonight. He talked about gutsy

performance from Widnes, how much of that win was down

to sheer guts? I think they probably just wanted

it more than Saints. Saints, coming off the back

of the win against Castleford, hoped it would be a catalyst,

got a bit of a kick in the teeth When you are told as a team

you were out-enthused It's possibly the worst thing

someone can say to you, Because that's not a talent

thing, it's something from inside you you should always

want to be putting your best performance on and trying your best,

so that does hurt but last game of Easter, it's

always that sort of game, you see the young hooker there,

chasing and dragging the winger over the line,

they are things that can get you over and get you the victories,

good to see the young Danny Walker had a really

important role to play, just his second game as well,

how impressed are you and how That's what you would

expect from the young kids when they come in,

if anything, that's what you want them to be doing, things like that,

they are match-winning moments, you see great tries

from people but moments They have Gilmour back,

Mellor back, is that going to be the key for Widnes,

you've talked about that spine? They have put a lot of focus

on those two, Brown has left in the off-season,

they have left it all up to those, both young halves, both very

talented, I think the big player coming back is Patrick Ah Van,

he takes work of the forwards in yardage, you see him getting

the try there, he's always dangerous near the line,

he is big for them and you can see Would you expect a few harsh

words been said around They would have hoped they would

have got a bit of reaction, having beaten Castleford,

between the players, they were out enthused,

that's an attitude saying, that the day with be

disappointed with. The bottom team have won

and the top team have lost, this is how things stand

in the Super League table. Now the England squad

for next month's Test match These are the names that

will be heading down under. He has played the biggest

competition in Australia, he must've been playing good rugby

to get to that level. He was a winger then and he has been

drafted up to the forwards but it will be looking forward

to seeing him play. And is it nice to see Alex Walmsley

getting his debut in that squad? It is always good to see the form

players being picked. Obviously McMeekin

is a success story. Daryl and Castleford

have done a great job with him and he has

improved every year. He is a real go to player for

Castleford now and it is great to see players like that and obviously

Alex has come from the Championship as well and had a great few years

and it is good to see him getting When you look at the backs,

you have the question of what back players will you go

for, you've got Luke Gale and George Williamson, what might

he do, do you think? That is probably the

toughest selection. George Williams has been absolutely

outstanding this year as Has he grown from what Wayne

Bennett was saying about George Williams gives

you a point of difference. He has got Wigan out

of so much trouble. He has come up with a bit of magic

and sometimes in test Now it is eight months

since Gareth Hill Four Super League teams entered this

year's competition at the weekend including Huddersfield

who took gone Swinton. Championship side Swinton Lions

travelled to the John Smith Stadium for the fifth round tie against

Huddersfield. Both teams had won just two

of their 11 league games this year and it was the Super League

favourites who opened the scoring Home fans were hoping it would be

plain sailing from there. However it was anything

but with the game full Part timers Swinton edged

ahead, first with this try from Sean Robinson

and the second from Lloyd. Momentum then swung back

in favour of the home side, a score from Sam Wood meant

there was this effort by Mackintosh, which gave the Giants

an 8-point cushion. But the cracks soon began to show

from the side just one The try from Butt from the Lions,

cutting the deficit to two points Despite only having 15

players fit the day before, Swinton stunned the crowd of just

over 1000, when they went ahead in the 51st minute

through Conor Dwyer. Huddersfield upped their game

and after a dominant spell headed back with this Oliver Roberts try

on 67 minutes. With the score 24-22,

in the Giants' favour, What followed was arguably one

of the biggest Challenge Cup A spin and a push from

Luke Waterworth, just four minutes from time gave the Lions

an astonishing victory, their first win since 1928

against Huddersfield and perhaps an indication of how far the Giants

fall from grace has been. Danny, just put into context

what an achievement They are a part-time team that has

not really been performing too well in the Championship,

but believe me, I have been in a Championship team before,

playing in the Super League cup They have gone there and thrown

everything at Huddersfield and knowing Huddersfield,

and a bit of pressure as well and they have come up with a victory

and you can see how much it They will probably live off that

for the rest of the season. And for Huddersfield, what does that

say about them at the moment? They will be embarrassed

and disappointed. They have been beaten by a part-time

team as Danny mentioned. You would like to see

that there is going to be something They have to put that behind them,

as difficult as it is going to be. They had a players meeting

like you did last year. I think it is easier when you get

into these little ruts to start feeling sorry for yourself a little

bit, but I have been in teams before that have struggled

and it is something that will turn They have too many good players,

people like Danny Brough Three years ago, they had

similar sorts of players and they finished top of the league,

four years ago, these are good players, they have to start

believing in themselves again and maybe change a few things

that they are doing on the field. It is difficult for them,

at the moment, especially after that, they will be embarrassed

and hurting from that. Maybe that is the thing they needed

to get the reaction. There were no problems for Leeds

who overcame Doncaster 17-year-old Jack Walker had a debut

to remember for the Rhinos. He scored a hat-trick of tries

as Leeds beat their elite one opposition by 61points

to 28 at Headingley. Next it is two teams who traded

places at the end of 2016. Leigh were promoted to Super League

where they replaced They were back in the same field

in the Challenge Cup on Saturday and commentary comes from Richard

Stead. Century and is looking to move the

ball left. Drinkwater. Crooks has made a mistake. He is with the 30,

towards the goal line. They will not catch him. What a start for. Alice.

Rovers extend their advantage. That is really slack defence. Good try.

Burr scores. Weston. Drinkwater. Bad pass. Crooks will find Lora Turnham.

He is then. Greenwood. Wonderful stuff from Hull

KR. Towards the goal line with Johnson. A body length shy. He looks

to his right. Will it be a dropped goal? Ellis has put it over. That

should do it. The fans are enjoying that. Ryan Shawcross dummy half.

Shaw has got pace. Just the fullback to beat. That is wonderful. They are

flying. The effort was tremendous and defence. They scrambled an

really turned up for each other. That is the spirit in the club at

the moment. To beat them here, it is a big effort. We have all been

involved in a club where we have lost three games in three years and

sometimes, you don't play great. The winning feeling is always still good

and at the moment, we are not getting that. Some soul searching to

be done, some hard work. We need to fix some individual traits and when

we start doing that as a team, hopefully it will come through. You

talked about Swinton playing Huddersfield, I am guessing that

Hull KR were up for that and how much of that will have been looking

ahead to the qualifiers and lane marker and showing what they can do?

I am pretty sure as soon as that draw came out they were looking

forward to it. I know quite a lot of players at Hull KR, a lot of Super

League quality players and they have done a great job of keeping that job

together. It was a chance for them to show there is still capable of

beating full-time teams and they did that and they were really good on

the day. They came up against Leigh had a good time. They have not

really experience losing too much over the last couple of seasons and

perhaps a bit of low confidence at the moment. It was a great game and

a great performance by Hull KR. How tough is this? They have been

winning week in and week out. How tough to find themselves on the

losing streak? It is unknown territory. They have to do a bit of

soul-searching and they will find out about themselves. Your biggest

challenge is normally when the chips are down. They will find out about

the group of players that they have. A moment of Challenge Cup history as

Salford took on the Toronto Wolfpack making their first ever appearance

in the competition. Salford will not have look forward to this? I think

if you look at the Toronto team, it is as if you're on a computer game

and picked the best attacking players and take them and then you

look at players like Craig Hall and Liam King who scored a lot of tries.

They are really going to throw a lot at you and you can see the way they

throw the ball around. It is always going to be a challenge. For me, to

beat them you have to grind it out and make it a tough encounter. If

you go set for a set like this, they will challenge most teams. How

excited are you about what Toronto are bringing to Rugby League. I

think it is great for the game. Paul Rowley was talking about players

approaching him and I do not blame them. The best thing

about when I went to Australia was living there and experience in it

and that is what it offers players, it offers them an opportunity. He

will have loved that. Obviously Salford had it tough, they went down

to ten men when Justin Carney was sent off. All do they get themselves

back together to win this? They have changed a lot as a team and they can

tough games out. You can see where they are in the table. They have a

lot of big powerful men and their forward pack has been dominating

games. I think that is why they got over the line as well as the smart

halves as well. You see people like Dobson, when you're down to 12 men,

those are the players you need, who will guide you around and keep

everything calm. The last thing you need to do is panic. Is this the

character that you want to see? Is Salford are going into the top four,

is this the game that tells you a lot about them? It is a potential

banana skin playing against someone in a position like that. For them to

grind a game out, score some points this year and show some real

attacking flair, but they really ground the game out and that will

give them a big confidence boost. Toronto were disappointed they did

not go through and do this. Yes. That is part of it. They are

confident, they sat in that league where they are beating teams by 50

or 60 every week and obviously too good to be in that division but it

was a great chance for them to showcase their talent against a team

doing well in Super League and they did that really well. We are looking

forward to a trip to Toronto at some point. Salford and Leeds are safely

through and here are the rest of the results in Round 5. An 83rd minute

dropped goal helped Dewsbury beat badly in golden point extra time.

16 teams are still standing for the sixth round draw including ten from

Super League. You can see how they come out of the hat on the BBC News

Channel or online at 6:30pm on Tuesday evening. That is just about

it for now, my thanks to Gareth and Danny Bridge oiliness, we will see

you next week, but for now, goodbye. -- Danny for now.

I've got some good news. Did you hear?

What are you talking about? What? What?