I’ve been a little surprised Warrington haven’t been better this year – they were good last year, and they signed very well in the close season. Adrian Morley hasn’t so far paid off, getting injured twice in a row, but Vinnie Anderson and Stuart Reardon are two cracking signings. I’m astonished Bradford let Reardon get away, frankly.
This all showed up nicely yesterday – Hull KR have been a bit of a cup surprise package lately, getting to the semi-finals last year (mind you, they did get a lucky, lucky draw) and performing well in the league. But Warrington won in style in the end, though it was a genuinely tough game and they were lacking Morley and Lee Briers. Reardon and Anderson both played out of their skins.
There’s something about Wires, though – no matter who’s in the team, they’re always a bit vicious (anyone remember when Bruce McGuire played for them?), and this match was remorselessly smash-mouth stuff. They are probably the best prospect for an alternative to the big four – as recently as 1994, they missed out on the championship on points difference, having drawn with Wigan – but this year they haven’t yet been consistent. That’s the good thing about the Cup, though – consistent isn’t required, hence the number of clubs who have an entirely unjustified reputation as giants of the game because they have a few (step forwards, Widnes and Leeds).
Reardon took his bat and ball home. I’m sure Bradford would have loved to keep him but after he was offered in a swap deal to Wakey for Ellis he didn’t want to know anymore – at which point, neither did Bradford. As a Bradford fan, I was honestly more sorry to lose Parker to Wire than Reardon.
tbh, I tend to think they’ve gone as far as they can with Cullen. I agree they can be genuine contenders, it’s just that they’ve been on the cusp of that for a long time now.