It was a round one baptism of fire for Sam Burgess’s Warrington Wolves as they hopped on the place to Perpignan for a Saturday evening encounter with the Catalans Dragons who went into battle for the first time in the post-Tomkins era.

There is no denying that Burgess was a giant of the game as a player, having battled for ten years at the top of the Australian game, but fans of Warrington and neutrals alike were wondering how his no-nonsense playing style would translate into his coaching ethos.

Pre-match the bookies were struggling to pick a side and gave the visitors just a four-point start on the coupon as it promised to be a great season opening battle in front of the partisan Dragons crowd in the South of France.

A place in the play off semi-finals awaited and a win for St Helens would see them travelling to Perpignan next week to take on the Catalans Dragons, while should the Warrington Wolves spring a surprise and get the win then they would be travelling to Wigan next week while last nights winners, Hull KR, would be getting on the plane to France.

St Helens have won all three encounters so far in 2023, by twenty-two points at home in April, and by four and then twelve in the meetings in July and a fortnight ago at the Halliwell-Jones.

Warrington had been given a twelve-point start on the handicap coupon after suffering a monumental fall in form following a stunning start to the season, and all but their most optimistic fans were expecting a Wolves defeat and Saints marching closer to another Grand Final.

In what had widely been dubbed the play off for the play offs, the Salford Red Devils welcomed the Warrington Wolves to the AJ Bell Stadium for a showdown match which would determine whether the fight for the top six would go on for at least another round, or whether the home side would all but mathematically bow out at this stage.

A win for the Red Devils would put them level on points with sixth placed Warrington, and a win by forty-five points or more would lift them above their opponents and into sixth spot with two round remaining.

On the other hand, if the Wolves were to take the points, then they would join Hull KR four points clear of the seventh placed Salford and with them both having a far superior points difference it was effectively over for the Red Devils.

The bookies were struggling to pick a favourite but erred on the side of the visitors, but by a very narrow margin.

Warrington Wolves hadn’t beaten the Wigan Warriors in their last four meetings coming into tonight’s crucial round nineteen encounter at the DW Stadium with both sides tied together on twenty-two points and needing the win to join Leigh Leopards in joint second place.

Wigan won the last encounter, the 14-12 win the Challenge Cup quarter final a month ago and all indications were that tonight’s game could be as close, but Warrington are currently in free fall having lost their last three outings, Wigan looking to bounce back after last weekend’s golden point loss to Wakefield Trinity.

Wigan were the bookies favourites having been handicapped by eight points on the coupon.

Fresh from hammering the Huddersfield Giants six days ago, the Leeds Rhinos made the trip to the Halliwell-Jones to face a Warrington Wolves side who fell to a surprise defeat at the hands of the Castleford Tigers on their last outing.

A win for the home side would put them back level on points with the league leaders, but unless it was by a margin of seventy points or more, they would still be second on points difference, while the Rhinos knew that they couldn’t improve their league position, but could get closer to seventh placed Hull KR.

The Wolves were the slight favourites with the bookies but with the Rhinos only having been given a two-point start on the coupon they really had a dilemma over who would win the game and take the two points.

With Hull KR and St Helens already safely into the semi-finals of the 2023 Challenge Cup, arguably the tie of the round pitted Wigan Warriors against the Warrington Wolves with the third place up for grabs in a game which is too close to call.

Wigan had the home advantage and the bookies handicapped them by four points on the coupon, favouring a win for the side in sixth pace over the one currently second in the table.

Warrington arrived with an unchanged side from last week’s narrow win over the Huddersfield Giants and they knew that they would need to be at their best to beat a speedy Wigan side and the dual threat of Field and French.

Warrington Wolves were eyeing a return to the top of Super League, for an hour at least, as they took on a struggling Huddersfield Giants side who themselves needed a win to go ahead of Hull FC in the 2023 league table.

The bookies had the Wolves as strong favourites for the win and had handicapped them by ten points the coupon despite them having lost on their last two outings.

The sides met way back in round two when the Wolves won by ten points in a close game, todays encounter promised to be a little more one-sided.

It was a warm afternoon as the two sides took to the field.

First and second in the Super League engaged in a tussle at Wigan as Darryl Powell’s Warrington came to town in a bid to go another round unbeaten, secure their position ahead of the chasing pack and put the 2022 rebuilding season behind them - along with the commentator’s annual joke about ‘this year’ being the Wolves’ year.

Wigan, straight off a powerful win over champions St Helens in the Easter rivals round, had their eyes on replacing Warrington at the top of the table and setting themselves up for an assault on Saints’ title.

The hosts kicked off in front of a record crowd and both teams were balanced in the opening sets, until the Warriors forced a goal-line drop-out in the fourth minute and scored in the subsequent set.

The tie of the Rivals round saw top side Warrington Wolves travel to the Catalans Dragons and enter the cauldron of the Stade Gilbert Brutus looking to maintain their perfect start to the season against a side who were looking to draw level on league points with their opponents.

The bookies and pundits fancied a Warrington win but with the Dragons only having been given a six-point start on the handicap coupon they were not convinced of their own odds setting.

A Dragons win would lift them level on points with the Wolves and a win by forty-one points or more would see them end the Easter weekend at the top of the pile, but a loss would see their opponents opening up a four-point gap at the top of the table at the quarter point of the season.

We´re back, Super League 2023 got underway at the Halliwell Jones Stadium in Warrington as the Wolves took on the Rhinos some one-hundred and forty-five days since St Helens lifted the Super League Grand Final Trophy at the culmination of the 2022 season.

Daryl Powell knew that he needed a good start to the season to get the fans onside but was rocked by the lengthy suspension of new signing Josh McGuire before the thirty-two year old had even played a single minute of competitive rugby.

Leeds coach Rohan Smith was also looking for a good start, but after performing miracles last season in lifting the Rhinos from relegation prospects to Grand Finalists, time would be on his side if things didn´t go to plan in the early rounds.

It´s round twenty-four and in 2022 the crucial games just keep on coming.

Tonight’s game at Emerald Headingley had the Leeds Rhinos needing a win to move above the Castleford Tigers into fifth spot, while Warrington Wolves came into the game knowing that a victory would guarantee their survival in the topflight after an awful season, so long as Wigan beat Toulouse.

Leeds coach Rohan Smith was relieved that he had Sezer, Bentley, Martin and Prior all back in his line up, softening the blow that the inspirational Harry Newman was out for the rest of the season.

Daryl Powell was without talisman Stefan Ratchford due to concussion protocols and was forced into giving debuts to Luke Thomas and Adam Holroyd, both on the bench, as he battled his own injury crisis.

The bookies thought that the points were the Rhinos, on the back of a four-game winning run, as they gave the Wolves a ten point start on the coupon after they had only registered one win in their last five outings, and that against the bottom side Toulouse Olympique XIII.

There was plenty to play for as Warrington wolves took on Toulouse Olympique XIII in a relegation dogfight at the Halliwell-Jones Stadium with the French side still looking for their first non-Magic away win of the season but knowing that Warrington were in freefall and ripe for the taking.

A win for Toulouse would likely lift them back off the floor of the table and over Wakefield Trinity, but a win for the Wolves would edge them a step closer to safety as they would then open a six-point lead over the bottom side.

Toulouse were taking a drink in the last chance saloon.

Second placed Wigan Warriors needed to pick up a win against third bottom Warrington Wolves to continue to delay fierce rivals St Helens being crowned as Super League minor premiers, while a victory for Warrington would halt their slide towards the relegation zone.

Warrington haven´t won on their last three outings whereas the Warriors have won two out of their last three and in doing so averaged over fifty points a game against the two Hull sides.

Wigan were strong favourites with the Wolves getting a fourteen-point start on the handicap coupon.

Warrington had to turn the corner of their 2022 season at some point, and where better than Wigan to do it, but it turned out that Wigan were in no mood for giving up the chase of top spot.

Two sides looking to make amends after losses last weekend came together for a Saturday afternoon clash as fourth placed Huddersfield Giants took on a Warrington Wolves side who were defying the early season optimism and lying in in a most Warrington-unlike third from bottom.

A Giants win would lift them up to third spot, at least for a few hours, but while a win for the visitors would help alleviate their relegation worries it would not improve their league position.

The bookies were erring on the side of a Giants win, having given the Wolves a six-point start on the coupon, but they were far from convinced that this would be a bad afternoon for the Cheshire side and while it might not be their year in 2022, this might be their week.

It was a tough Magic Weekend tie for a Warrington Wolves side in freefall as they were drawn to take the field against a Catalans Dragons who had just been pushed into fourth spot by the Huddersfield Giants and who were looking to regain their third spot, or if they could pile on the misery, then possibly make it up to second on points difference.

The Dragons were favourites with the bookies, Warrington getting an eight-point start on the handicap coupon, and most pundits believed that this would be another loss to add to the catalogue of Wolves losses so far in 2022.

The sides have met twice so far this season, the Dragons victors on both occasions, but this time the French side were missing a few key players due to injury and suspension.

Ninth played host to fifth as an embattled Warrington Wolves looked to return to winning ways against a Hull FC side seeking to cement their top five spot and establish some breathing space ahead of the red side of the city.

The Wolves haven´t won a game since the 23^rd April, just over two months ago, when the beat the Huddersfield Giants having lost the previous week against tonight´s opposition but it was the home side who were favourites for the win with the bookies, the Airlie Birds getting a six point start on the coupon.

The most nervous man in the house was Wolves coach Daryl Powell who knew that he was living on borrowed time, if not with the board, then definitely with the disgruntled fans.

Wakefield Trinity took on the Wolves as a bottom of the table dogfight took place on Sunday afternoon at Belle Vue with ninth against eleventh and the chance of all change with a home win by twenty-four points or more heralding a position switch to push the Wolves into eleventh spot.

Wakefield won the round six the game in Warrrington back in mid-March by 38-22, and a week later they knocked Warrington out of the Challenge Cup by a score line of 16-12, today they were looking for the treble.

The home side were given a four-point start on the coupon, the bookies struggling to pick a winner but favouring the Wolves based on league position.

Normally a fixture associated with the play-off places, it was eighth against tenth as the Warrington Wolves hosted the Leeds Rhinos in an important game in the bottom half of the table as both sides looked to maintain a place on the fringes of the top six, the home side knowing that a win would lift them to at least seventh and the Rhinos looking to jump above their hosts into eighth.

Daryl Powell´s Wolves had new loan signing Kyle Amor on the bench in a strong looking line up after almost a fortnight off, while Leeds boss Rohan Smith made an enforced change to an equally rested side which beat Wakefield last time out to accommodate the most recent suspension of James Bentley.

Warrington were the favourites with the bookies, the Rhinos getting an eight-point start on the handicap coupon.

It was a important sunny Saturday afternoon in Perpignan for both the Catalans Dragons and Warrington Wolves with the former knowing that a win would lift them into second spot in the table, and the latter hoping for a win by six or more points which would lift them above Hull KR and into the top half of the league.

The bookies had the home side as firm favourites and were giving the Wolves a ten-point start on the handicap coupon prior to the game, and with full back talisman, Sam Tomkins, back in the side, coupled with rushed travel arrangements for the Wolves, and the news that Charnley and King were missing, no one could blame the weighted odds.

Warrington started this home Cup tie as clear favourites to beat Wakefield at home and book a date to welcome Wigan to the Halliwell Jones Stadium in the quarter final.

The bookies had them at 10-3 on for the win, while Trinity were 5-2 - despite beating their hosts in the league last weekend.