Williams wins it for Wolves on debut

Pictures Eddie Whitham

GEORGE Williams made an immediate impact as his last minute drop goal earned Warrington Wolves a 27-26 win at Leeds.

Williams stepped up to score the decisive one-pointer with barely seconds left, after Danny Walker’s solo try under the posts had drawn the Wolves level in a topsy-turvy encounter.

The win wasn’t without controversy though, the video referee awarding a Josh Charnley try in the second half that appeared to have been held up by former Wire hooker Brad Dwyer.

But it turned out to be an 11th league win of the season for Steve Price’s side, who sit third in the Super League table.

The game started in frantic fashion, the two sides sharing four tries inside the first 20 minutes of the match. Leeds scored through Harry Newman and Mikolaj Oledzki, cancelled out by Mike Cooper and Blake Austin, who improvised brilliantly to pick up a loose Williams pass to waltz in.

2019 ⏩ Williams 🆚 Rhinos

George Williams debuts for the Wolves tonight 🐺@leedsrhinos v @WarringtonRLFC live on Sky Sports Arena, 7.30pm KO 📺#SuperLeague #SLLeeWar pic.twitter.com/sCsz226sqL

— Betfred Super League (@SuperLeague) August 1, 2021

It looked like we would be in for a high scoring evening, but the game settled down after then, with a Dwyer try giving Leeds an 18-12 half time lead.

The big talking point came on 51 minutes when Charnley, who had been spectacularly denied a first half try by Richie Myler, went over in the right corner under pressure from a handful of defenders.

Referee Chris Kendall referred the decision upstairs as a try, and it was deemed there wasn’t sufficient evidence to overturn the try, despite at least one angle showing that Dwyer had clearly got under the ball and prevented Charnley from getting the ball to the ground.

Try or No Try ?- Picture Eddie Whitham

The excellent Stefan Ratchford stepped up to land a crucial touchline conversion to level the scores, and he nudged the Wolves in front for the first time with a penalty from 25 metres out on 62 minutes.

The pendulum swung Leeds’ way with 13 minutes to go though, as Wolves captain Jack Hughes was sent to the sinbin, and Rhyse Martin levelled the scores with a penalty.

And the Rhinos made the extra man count, Newman dancing in from the left and piercing through the Wolves defence to go under the posts and give the hosts a six point lead with 10 to play.

A brilliant solo try from Walker, quickly darting from dummy half to go 30 metres, levelled things up and then as time ticked on, the Wolves worked their way smartly up field and set up for Williams to make a perfect start to his Wolves career.

George Williams’ drop goal – Picture Eddie Whitham

Leeds: Myler, Handley, Newman, Hurrell, Briscoe, Sutcliffe, Gale, Oledski, Dwyer, Prior, Donaldson, Martin, Tetevano. Subs: L Briscoe, Holroyd, Thompson, Smith.

Warrington: Ratchford, Lineham, Mamo, King, Charnley, Austin, Williams, Hill, D Clark, Cooper, Currie, Hughes, Davis. Subs: Mulhern, Akauola, Walker, Longstaff.

Loved my @WarringtonRLFC debut. The lads dug in deep there… UP THE WIRE!! 🐺 pic.twitter.com/cEtoWyUR1O

— George Williams (@George7Williams) August 1, 2021