Matt King feels Warrington Wolves have an advantage

[josie andrews]

MATT King has revealed the mindset that he believes will put Warrington Wolves in a better place for tackling Wigan Warriors in Sunday’s crunch League Leaders’ Shield battle.

The champions come to town six weeks after knocking then holders Wolves out of the Challenge Cup, a competition that Wigan went on to win at Wembley on Saturday.

More silverware is at stake this time. A win for Wigan would hand them first place for the second year in a row, whereas a win for Warrington would set them up with the opportunity to seal top spot for the first time since 1973 when they travel to Hull the following weekend.

“The occasion got the better of us when we played them in the cup,” said King, who scored two tries in that 44-24 quarter-final loss on July 23.

“As a playing group, I don’t think we handled the fact that everyone was talking about that game being the best of the year, that it should have been the final, that the winners would pretty much have their hands on the cup.

“The advantage this weekend is that Sunday is just another round of Super League.

“I know people will build it up around the League Leaders’ Shield, but from our point of view it’s just another step that we need to take in building some momentum towards the play-offs. I think that’s a really big advantage for us.”

Wolves, now on a club record run of eight successive Super League wins, also went into that cup game without the services of Lee Briers, Adrian Morley and Ben Harrison. But their last outing against Catalan in France, where they won without skipper Morley (eye), Brett Hodgson (torn quad), Simon Grix (groin), Ben Westwood (knee) and Rhys Evans (foot), indicated how Wolves have learned to cope with adversity and showed the strength of the squad.

Former Australian Test winger King, who is joining South Sydney Rabbitohs next season, said the progress the club has made with consistency – which includes dealing with setbacks – has been the most noticeable improvement since he joined the club in 2008.

“Tony Smith is exceptional at that, keeping us in check and making sure we’re fully focused on what needs to happen no matter who we’ve got available or who we’re playing,” said the 31-year-old.

“There’s a feeling that no matter who we select, who is injured, or the form of players, that our team can still perform to a level that allows us to win games.”

Wigan coach Michael Maguire will be King’s boss at South Sydney next year but no messages of congratulations have been sent after Saturday’s Challenge Cup Final defeat of Leeds Rhinos.

King said: “I wished him luck, also Ryan Hoffman (former teammate at Melbourne Storm) but with coming up against them this week I thought I would shake their hands and congratulate them after the game.”

He sees Sunday’s battle as a further chance for Wolves to assess their position as title contenders.

“It will be a great test for Wigan to see how quickly they can recover from the great high of winning the cup at the weekend, and it will be a chance for us to test ourselves against the best because they are the current Super League champions and Challennge Cup winners.

“This game will show us the levels we’re at with the play-offs now just around the corner.”

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[Kiwiseddon]

I think that he's probably right. We are going to have a Wembley hangover it's just how well we deal with it that matters. For me it's a case of just trying to play to our structure and methods as best as we can but psychologically, I feel that Warrington have an edge.
The only real saving grace is that they have a number of key players out. Solomona is a massive loss for them as he can turn a game and we've always found him a handful.

We'll see. Too close to call. No good reason why we can't win but I'd I could say the same about Warrington.

[Panchitta Marra]

Been told that Warrington have 4 points start on the coupon.

Any Takers ???