By Chris Lord
May 24 2007

Warrington Wolves host St. Helens for the second time this season looking to avenge the 12-48 home defeat in March and finally end the Saints hold over Warrington in the Super League era. With only 1 victory over the men from Knowsley Road in 29 meetings between the two sides, Warrington must surly be due a victory over our local rivals.

 

engage Super League XII Round 15 - Preview

The Halliwell Jones Stadium, Warrington
Monday 28th May 2007, 12:00

Warrington Wolves welcome local rivals and current champions St. Helens to the Halliwell Jones stadium for the second time in 2007. Back in March, Saints ran out 12-48 winners against the Wolves which still means that Warrington only have 1 league success against the Saints, a 56-22 victory back in 2001 at Wilderspool.

Wolves come into the clash on the back off a 4-17 home defeat to Harlequins, who have also recorded a victory away to St. Helens in the first round of Super League XII. Saints come into the match in good form with 4 successive victories on the bounce against Wakefield, Rochdale, Wigan and Harlequins and now find themselves top of the table once again.

Warrington will also face Saints in the quater finals of the Carnegie Challenge Cup a week on saturday at Knowsley Road, so its likely that both teams will be testing there oppenents to the full inorder to gain some advantage for the cup clash.

If Warrington lose then they could find themselves 4 points out of the top 6 with less then half the season remaining. One thing Warrington dont want to be doing is playing catch up rugby. Also another defeat for the Wolves could put coach Paul Cullen through the exit door at the Halliwell Jones stadium as club owner Simon Moran demans top class rugby at Warrington and not just when St. Helens come to town.

Warrington Wolves squad

Reardon, Fa'afili, Mark Gleeson, Johnson, Grose, Briers, Leikvoll, Clarke, Rauhihi, Morley, Westwood, Anderson, Martin Gleeson, Parker, Wood, Barnett, Pickersgill, Bracek, Harrison, Wainwright.

St. Helens squad

Wellens, Gardner, Gidley, Talau, Meli, Pryce, Fozzard, Cunningham, Cayless, Gilmour, Wilkin, Sculthorpe, Roby, Graham, Hargreaves, Smith, Clough, Fa'asavalu, Tyrer, McGilvray.

Match Officials

Referee - R Silverwood
Touch Judge - A Martin
Touch Judge - C Shaard
Reserve Referee - M Dawber
Video Referee - A Klein
Match Conditioner - D Campbell

Archived Results from 1996 v St. Helens

Warrington 24-25 St. Helens (17/05/96) - 6548
St. Helens 66-14 Warrington (26/08/96) - 18098
St. Helens 60-16 Warrington (20/04/97) - 11609
Warrington 20-22 St. Helens (22/08/97) - 5910
St. Helens 36-14 Warrington (26/04/98) - 10058 (at Anfield, Liverpool FC)
Warrington 14-48 St. Helens (09/08/98) - 4538
St. Helens 57-20 Warrington (23/05/99) - 10042
Warrington 12-35 St. Helens (15/08/99) - 7171
Warrington 34-47 St. Helens (24/04/00) - 9086
St. Helens 50-20 Warrington (30/06/00) - 7296
St. Helens 58-18 Warrington (20/08/00) - 7139
Warrington 56-22 St. Helens (20/04/01)  - 8060
St. Helens 70-16 Warrington (07/07/01) - 8113
Warrington 28-28 St. Helens (26/08/01) - 7910
Warrington 36-44 St. Helens (12/05/02) - 8750
St. Helens 72-2 Warrington (03/08/02) - 7949
St. Helens 56-6 Warrington (21/04/03) - 8963
Warrington 30-30 St. Helens (01/06/03) - 8590
Warrington 20-50 St. Helens (22/05/04) - 11328
St. Helens 28-8 Warrington (26/06/04) - 8783
Warrington 24-26 St. Helens (05/09/04) - 11930
Warrington 16-18 St. Helens (04/03/05) - 12098
St. Helens 31-30 Warrington (29/05/05) - 12666
St. Helens 30-10 Warrington (05/08/05) - 12762
Warrington 10-18 St. Helens (03/03/06) - 13024
St. Helens 34-22 Warrington (12/05/06) - 13250
Warrington 30-38 St. Helens (17/09/06) - 13024
Warrington 12-48 St. Helens (09/03/07) - 13024

Ticket Information - Warrington v St. Helens

The visit of St. Helens is set to produce the fourth sell out in this fixture in the past 18 months as the North, East and West stands at the stadium are all set to "sold out". There are 400 tickets available for the South stand  and 100 for the North and East stand, but club officials warn that these tickets are likely to all be sold prior to the matchday. Please contact Warrington Wolves Ticket Office on 01925 248888 for all your ticketing information and to purchase your tickets.

Betting Information -

First Try Scorer -

12/1 - Ade Gardner (STH), Francis Meli (STH), Matt Gidley (STH)
14/1 - Paul Wellens (STH), Matin Gleeson (WAR), Willie Talau (STH), Henry Fa'afili (WAR)
16/1 - Stephen Tyrer (STH), Richie Barnett (WAR), Brent Grose (WAR), Leon Pryce (STH), Paul Johnson (WAR), Stuart Reardon (WAR), Lee Gilmour (STH)
20/1 - Lee Briers (WAR), Vinnie Anderson (WAR), Jon Clarke (WAR)
22/1 - Paul Sculthorpe (STH), James Roby (STH), Jon Wilkin (STH), Kerion Cunningham (STH)
25/1 - Rob Parker (WAR)
33/1 - James Graham (STH), Paul Clough (STH), Maurie Fa asavalu (STH), Jason Cayless (STH)
40/1 - Adrian Morley (WAR), Paul Wood (WAR), Chris Leikvol (WAR), Mike Wainwright (WAR), Nick Fozzard (STH)

Winning Margin -

1-5 Points - Warrington 8/1, St. Helens 15/2
6-10 Points - Warrington 12/1, St. Helens 6/1
11-15 Points - Warrington 16/1, St. Helens 5/1
16-20 Points - Warrington 20/1, St. Helens 11/2
21-25 Points - Warrington 25/1, St. Helens 7/1
26-30 Points - Warrington 33/1, St. Helens 9/1
31-35 Points - Warrington 40/1, St. Helens 12/1
36-40 Points - Warrington 50/1, St. Helens 14/1
41-45 Points - Warrington 66/1, St. Helens 16/1
46-50 Points - Warrington 80/1, St. Helens 20/1
51-55 Points - Warrington 100/1, St. Helens 25/1

Prediciton -

Warrington need to stand up and be counted on Monday otherwise St. Helens will step up a gear and pull away with victory. Its simple, defence wins matches and if the Wolves defend on Monday they could be in with a shout. St. Helens are the best side in attack and if the Wolves can stop the likes of Gidley, Roby, Pryce and Cunningham then the speed of the game will drop to an advantage of the Wolves.

Score... a close on yet again

Warrington Wolves 29-20 St. Helens