Super League: Friday’s talking points and team news including Warrington Wolves vs Catalans Dragons LIVE! | Rugby League News

Warrington made it three wins from three in 2022 with victory away to Toulouse last week

We take a look at what is being said and team news ahead of Friday’s two Betfred Super League matches as Warrington Wolves host Catalans Dragons and champions St Helens travel to Hull Kingston Rovers.

Warrington Wolves vs Catalans Dragons (Halliwell Jones Stadium, 8pm – live on Sky Sports)

Daryl Powell could hardly have asked for a better start to his tenure as Warrington Wolves head coach – to the extent that overseeing three wins from three has made a little bit of history at the Wire.

Powell is the first Warrington head coach to go on a run like that in his first three matches since Tony Barrow – then in post on a caretaker basis before earning the job full-time – in March 1986, although that came to an end for the latter in his fourth game.

That is a fate Powell will be aiming to avoid when the Wolves welcome Catalans Dragons to the Halliwell Jones Stadium on Friday, live on Sky Sports, but the former Great Britain international wants to see a much-improved display from last week’s 32-18 win away to Super League’s other French side, Toulouse Olympique, as well.

“We need a few more gears in the coming weeks and we were way off the standard we need [against Toulouse],” Powell said.

“They started better than us, we’ve been penned in our own half at the start of all three games we’ve played so far so we need to work on that.

“We’ve won the game and we’re three from three but I’d have hoped for us to take a step forward [against Toulouse], but I think we’ve taken a couple of steps backwards.”

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Highlights of the Betfred Super League clash between Toulouse Olympique and Warrington Wolves.

The Wolves will be boosted by the return of Gareth Widdop, Ben Currie and Oliver Holmes, but Catalans are without nine players as they aim for their own hat-trick of wins after rebounding from the season-opening loss to St Helens with back-to-back wins over Wakefield Trinity and Leeds Rhinos.

Man of Steel Sam Tomkins is one of those who will be missing for the hosts and he believes there is much more improvement to come from last year’s League Leaders’ Shield winners and Grand Final runners-up as they prepare to test themselves against one of the teams still unbeaten in 2022.

“We’ve not played particularly well the first three weeks,” Tomkins, who was forced off injured in last week’s 10-4 win away to the Rhinos, told Sky Sports. “Warrington are always strong. They’ve got a new coach and a little bit of a new look, so they’ll be playing slightly different.

“But what will remain is the quality of the players they’ve got. They’ve shown that already in the first few games of the season, they’re going to be a top side again this year, so it’s going to be another good test for us.”

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Highlights of the Betfred Super League match between Leeds Rhinos and Catalans Dragons.

Named squads

Warrington Wolves: Matty Ashton, Joe Bullock, Josh Charnley, Daryl Clark, Mike Cooper, Ben Currie, Matt Davis, Riley Dean, Oliver Holmes, Jack Hughes, Toby King, Ellis Longstaff, Peter Mata’utia, Robbie Mulhern, Joe Philbin, Stefan Ratchford, Josh Thewlis, Danny Walker, Gareth Widdop, George Williams.

Catalans Dragons: Tom Davies Samisoni Langi, Fouad Yaha, Mitchell Pearce, Josh Drinkwater, Matt Whitley, Mike McMeeken, Benjamin Garcia, Alrix Da Costa, Benjamin Jullien, Paul Seguier, Mickael Goudemand, Arthur Romano, Tyrone May, Corentin Le Cam, Jordan Dezaria, Mathieu Cozza, Cesar Rouge, Romain Franco, Sam Kasiano, Florian Vailhen.

Hull Kingston Rovers vs St Helens (Sewell Group Craven Park, 8pm)

Kristian Woolf believes St Helens’ players are relishing the prospect of taking on former team-mate Lachlan Coote when the reigning champions head to Sewell Group Craven Park on Friday.

Full-back Coote played a significant role in Saints’ Grand Final triumphs of 2019, 2020 and 2021, but salary cap pressure and the emergence of Jack Welsby led to him leaving and making the switch to East Hull over the winter.

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Highlights of the Betfred Super League match between St Helens and Wakefield Trinity.

The Scotland international is set to feature for Rovers for the first time since suffering an injury in the opening round of the season and St Helens head coach Woolf is looking forward to going up against Coote again.

“He’s remembered extremely fondly here,” Woolf, whose side made three wins from three with a 20-4 win over Wakefield Trinity last week, said. “He’s a great bloke, he was a great bloke in our squad for three years and a very big part of the success we’ve had over those three years and a very big player for us.

“I think that adds to the excitement. I think the players will really enjoy the challenge of going up against him and playing against him. On the flipside, I think it’s a challenge he’s going to look forward to and he knows us well as well.”

The insights Coote has been able to give his new team-mates, who are aiming to build on a 26-10 win at home to Castleford Tigers last Friday, into what makes the unbeaten St Helens tick have been pretty simple, however.

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Highlights of the Super League match between Hull KR and Castleford Tigers.

“The biggest thing he can give us is an insight into the fact that they just keep doing the same thing over and over and over and wait for teams not to keep up with them,” Hull KR head coach Tony Smith said.

“It’s a pretty fair point. Most teams can match Saints in most things for a period of time, it’s just that they do it longer than everybody else.”

Along with Coote returning, the Robins welcome back Elliot Minchella who is set to make his first appearance for the club in over 330 days.

St Helens have made just one change to their 21-man squad, with James Bell coming in for the suspended Curtis Sironen.

Named squads

Hull Kingston Rovers: Lachlan Coote, Brad Takairangi, Shaun Kenny Dowall, Ryan Hall, Jordan Abdull, Albert Vete, Matt Parcell, George King, Dean Hadley, Kane Linnett, Matty Storton, Jez Litten, Korbin Sims, Elliot Minchella, Jimmy Keinhorst, Will Dagger, Mikey Lewis, Sam Wood, Greg Richards, Tom Garratt, Frankie Halton.

St Helens: Jack Welsby, Tommy Makinson, Will Hopoate, Mark Percival, Jonny Lomax, Lewis Dodd, Alex Walmsley, James Roby, Matty Lees, Sione Mata’utia, Joe Batchelor, Morgan Knowles, Joey Lussick, Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Agnatius Paasi, Kyle Amor, Jake Wingfield, James Bell, Josh Simm, Ben Davies, Konrad Hurrell.