Super League: Warrington Wolves vs St Helens talking points
Watch Super League champions St Helens take on Challenge Cup holders Warrington Wolves on Thursday, live on Sky Sports Arena, Main Event and Mix from 7pm
By Marc Bazeley
Last Updated: 06/02/20 10:19pm
We take a look at what is being said ahead of Thursday's Super League showdown between Warrington Wolves and St Helens, live on Sky Sports...
League and Cup winners go head-to-head
The clubs are billing it as the 'Clash of the Champions', with Challenge Cup holders Warrington welcoming reigning Super League kings St Helens to the Halliwell Jones Stadium on Thursday evening.
Saints were too good for their rivals on all three occasions in Super League last year, including winning 21-10 and 30-12 in the two away games against the Wolves.
But Steve Price's men got the better of St Helens when they met on the big stage at Wembley last August, digging in to secure an 18-4 win in the Cup final.
Both teams had contrasting fortunes in the opening round of the 2020 Super League season. St Helens kicked off life under new head coach Kristian Woolf with a 48-8 triumph at home to Salford Red Devils, while Warrington went down 16-10 away to Wigan Warriors.
Despite the defeat at the DW Stadium, it was an encouraging display from the visitors - particularly given they played a large part of the match with 12 men - and at one point with 11 due to Mike Cooper's yellow card - after co-captain Chris Hill was sent off in the first half.
Hill has now been banned for three matches, while marquee signing Gareth Widdop is still sidelined due to an injury sustained in pre-season.
St Helens are without Lachlan Coote after he went off with an MCL injury in the win over Salford and Kyle Amor is out due to injury as well, but Morgan Knowles has been included in Woolf's 21-man squad after completing his recovery from off-season shoulder surgery.
Wolves draft in another young gun
Widdop's absence meant a reshuffle for Warrington which saw Matty Ashton, recruited from Championship side Swinton Lions last year, handed his Super League bow against Wigan.
So eye-catching was his display that he was one of the three players in that game awarded Man of Steel points by the judging panel - and now head coach Price has included another up and coming player in his 21-man squad to replace the banned Hill.
Loose forward Ellis Robson, who has previous spent time on loan at Dewsbury Rams, Rochdale Hornets and Widnes Vikings, is called into the first team from the club's youth set-up and may well get an opportunity to impress on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Price admitted he was surprised by the length of the suspension placed on Hill following his dismissal for a high tackle on Warriors hooker Sam Powell.
"I was surprised at the grading," Price said. "If he had no previous form from last season, it would easily have been two matches.
"We'll cop it. It was one of those things - there was no intent as Chris is not a malicious player by any means."
More to come from Saints?
St Helens sent out an ominous message to the rest of Super League as they began their title defence with a 48-8 win at home to last year's vanquished Grand Final opponents Salford.
It could hardly have been a better start to the season for new Saints boss Woolf, who has the unenviable task of trying to improve on what predecessor Justin Holbrook achieved in 2019.
Woolf has spoken repeatedly of trying to find small ways to improve rather than make wholesale changes, although the thought of this team possibly getting even better is almost a frightening one.
Yet even though he was delighted with the performance against the Red Devils, the 44-year-old was still picking out parts of St Helens' game he believes they can work on.
"I'm very happy," Woolf said. "We worked really hard in pre-season to put ourselves in a good position to start the season.
"Salford were up for the game and they challenged us early on, but Luke Thompson and Alex Walmsley are hard to handle over a long period and we wore them down.
"We've got plenty of improvement in us. I think at different times, we lost our way a bit, particularly at the back end of the first half and we were a bit indisciplined coming out of our end."
Tonga links run through both clubs
Much like Salford half-back Tui Lolohea last week, Warrington have a player in their squad who knows Woolf well from his time in charge of the Tonga national team.
Ben Murdoch-Masila was a regular under Woolf during his reign as Mate Ma'a head coach, including being part of the teams which beat Great Britain and then made history by defeating Australia last winter.
The pair remain friendly, but the 28-year-old Wolves forward will be putting that on hold on Thursday evening as his club side aim to set out their title credentials against the Super League champions.
"We're friends now, but when it comes to game-day he's my enemy," Murdoch-Masila said.
"To have these two games [against Wigan and St Helens] in the first two rounds is good for us to see where we are as a team. Obviously, Saints are the reigning champions and it would be good to knock them off early on.
"I said in the interviews after the game against Wigan I was proud of the boys' efforts, especially considering we went down to 12 and then 11 men.
"If that's the way we're going to start our season with that kind of effort, then I'm positive and looking forward to the rest of the year."