Hidden performances and theories supported as cup final stats emerge

Yahoo

08-06-2025

Toby King was quietly impressive in defeat at Wembley as he returned from injury (Image: Richard Sellers/PA Wire)
AS the sporting saying goes, there is only one stat that really matters – the scoreline.
And as we all now know, that all-important figure ended up agonisingly against Warrington Wolves in Saturday's Challenge Cup Final as they saw what would have been a memorable victory snatched away in the dying seconds.
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However, more statistics that have emerged in the aftermath of the game lend weight to the theory touted by Wire boss Sam Burgess and indeed many observers – that the better, more dominant team on the day ended up on the losing side.
In total, Warrington were in possession of the ball for 30mins 53secs and of that time, just under half (13mins 41secs) was spent in the Hull KR half.
Indeed, they had the ball within 20 metres of the Robins' try line for 6mins 41secs in total. By contrast, Rovers enjoyed 3mins 59secs of ball inside the Wire 20.
Their total territory figure for the game was 53 per cent and they actually increased the amount of territory they had in the second half to 55 per cent having been at 51 per cent before the interval while they also edged the completion rate statistics – they finished 83 per cent of their sets compared to KR's 79 per cent.
The hidden performances in a brave team effort
Marc Sneyd will deservedly get the plaudits in terms of individual displays having won the Lance Todd Trophy for the third time in his career.
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He was clearly the game's standout player but from a Warrington perspective, there were a few other performances that went more under the radar.
Upon his return to the side from injury, Toby King again showed how reliable and effective he is in coming away from his own try line – his 194m gained from 22 carries was a figure bettered by only three players from either side who passed the 200m mark.
Hull KR winger Tom Davies – the scorer of the game's winning try – led the metre-making charts with 241 ahead of Wire full-back Matt Dufty (235) and his Robins counterpart Jack Broadbent (231).
However, King's 89m gained post-contact and six tackle breaks are the highest figure of any player from either side on the day.
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Luke Yates, too, put in a superb display on both sides of the ball as he produced arguably his best performance since joining The Wire midway through last season.
The 125m he gained with the ball from 13 carries was the highest of any Wire forward – Ben Currie (117) and Paul Vaughan (115) were just behind him – and only Robins bulldozer Kelepi Tanginoa (132) could boast a better figure among the opposition.
In defence, though, he was faultless as he completed 35 tackles without a single miss while none of his tackles were deemed ineffective in Opta's stats.
Yates had the highest figure of the three players to enjoy 100 per cent tackle completion rates, with teammate James Harrison (26) and Hull KR's Sauaso Sue (25) being the others.
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Currie and Adam Holroyd jointly topped Wire's tackle charts – both recorded 43 with a single miss – followed by Sam Powell (36 with three misses).
For the game as a whole, KR skipper Elliot Minchella led the way with an exceptional 57 tackles while two of his teammates also cleared the 50-tackle mark – Dean Hadley and Jai Whitbread both made 53.