KEY STATS: Currie's quiet brilliance and a clear change of tack at dummy-half

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16 hours ago

Ben Currie was Wire's top tackler and the leading ball-carrier among forwards against Hull FC (Image: Paul Currie/SWpix.com)
IT was an excellent collective effort from Warrington Wolves to beat Hull FC on Saturday, but a few individuals have been highlighted post-match.
George Williams received Sky Sports' player of the match award while Josh Thewlis was named as the stand-out in-ground, with Matt Dufty's contributions upon his return from injury also highlighted.
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However, a look at the game stats reveals another display of quiet effectiveness from The Wire's 'Mr Consistent' in Ben Currie.
The loose forward, who has arguably been Wire's player of the season thus far, achieved the rare double of being the team's top tackler and the leading metre-maker among his colleagues up front.
His 38 tackles led the way for his side with Sam Stone (37) and Luke Yates (34) close behind, with Yates completing all of his attempted tackles successfully without a single miss.
Across the game as a whole, Currie's tackle number can only be topped by Hull pair Amir Bourouh and Zak Hardaker, both of whom made 41 tackles.
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With the ball, Currie's 12 carries yielded 102 metres at an average of 8.5m per carry – the most of any Wire forward while his number was only topped for forwards on either side by Hull juggernaut Herman Ese'ese, who just edged past him with 103m but from two more carries.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Josh Thewlis was the game's leading metre-maker having racked up 165m from 14 carries – a total boosted by the long-range break he made to score the game's opening try.
Williams was just behind him with 164m from 25 carries including two line breaks while Dufty made 130m from 15 carries, including the line break assist for Lachlan Fitzgibbon's try.
A change of tack at dummy-half
A point of criticism among Warrington fans of late has been the lack of variety from dummy-half of late.
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With Danny Walker injured, Sam Powell and Jordy Crowther have been carrying the weight but with neither a known runner from behind the ruck, their efforts have been subjected to ridicule in some quarters.
However, there was a clear change of tack in this game as there was certainly more of an inclination among the team to run straight from the play-the-ball.
Indeed, the seven dummy-half runs the team made collectively was their highest total since the Round Nine victory over St Helens which, ironically, was the last game Walker played before succumbing to his knee injury, albeit he was playing in the halves that night.
Powell's barge-over from dummy-half is the kind of try Wire have not been scoring in Walker's absence, with his two scoots making 18 metres – more than in his 10 previous Super League games combined.
A dummy-half run from Crowther also earned an early penalty while it was a similar carry from Josh Thewlis that got him through the line for the opening try.