WARRINGTON Wolves coach Steve Price held his weekly press conference at Great Sankey High School this week, flanked by two players and rivals from St Helens.
Daryl Clark and Ben Murdoch-Masila joined Price, as well as Saints coach Kristian Woolf and players Jonny Lomax and Alex Walmsley, to be asked questions by students from the school and the gathered media.
The two sides go head to head in a blockbuster Super League clash at the Halliwell Jones Stadium on Thursday night, a repeat of the Challenge Cup final at Wembley last August, that was of course won by the Wolves.
They had contrasting starts to the new season, with Saints easing to a 48-8 win over Salford in their Grand Final repeat, while 12-man Warrington went down fighting in a 16-12 defeat at Wigan.
Sent off in that game was Chris Hill, who was handed a three-match ban by the RFL disciplinary committee.
Price said: “It’s one of those things. It was unfortunate. We’ll accept the ban, move on and focus on Thursday.”
Hill’s front-row partner Mike Cooper was also sinbinned in the game, but the Wolves still managed to stay in the game until the death against Adrian Lam’s side.
Stand-off Blake Austin was involved in an eye-gouging incident, appearing to accuse Morgan Smithies of the act during a tackle, though it wasn’t pursued any further after the game.
Price added: “I’m a big believer in what happens on the field, stays on the field. It should come down to the player, and Blake felt after the game that he wanted to leave on the field, so that’s where we left it.”
Ellis Robson comes in to replace the suspended Hill, who will miss this game plus the games against Wakefield and Toronto, but Gareth Widdop is still sidelined, though has returned to light training.
“Gaz was out on the field today (Monday) doing some basic skills with the coaching staff, so he’s getting close. He’s doing everything right with his rehab.
“They’re always tough matches against Saints. They’re quite entertaining and there’s certainly an added spice.
“We’re really looking forward to it. Saints had a good win against Salford, they’ve tweaked a few things defensively, they’re a quality football team and so are we.”
