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Toulouse coach Sylvain Houles endured a rollercoaster in his side’s win over Wakefield
We round up the key quotes from the coaches after a pulsating first day of this year’s Betfred Super League Magic Weekend in Newcastle….
Houles: “A rollercoaster” for Toulouse
Sylvain Houles was a relieved man at full-time as Toulouse Olympique kept their hopes of staying in Super League alive with a thrilling 38-26 win over Wakefield Trinity in the Magic Weekend opener.
Two tries from Matty Russell helped the French side claw their way back from a 16-point deficit at half-time to clinch a valuable win in the battle of the bottom two at St James’ Park.
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Highlights of the Betfred Super League match between Wakefield Trinity and Toulouse
Toulouse are now just two points behind 11th-placed Trinity as they prepare to embark on a run of three consecutive home games and head coach Houles was delighted with how his side responded to some harsh words at the break.
“It was a rollercoaster,” Houles said. “Watching that first half wasn’t good, because we didn’t do what we had spoken about all week.
“It’s probably the first time I gave them a little bit of spray. We fought so hard to be here, and it wasn’t what we wanted to show everyone in Super League. I thought that we didn’t respect ourselves in the first half.
“We knew it was a huge game, really a do-or-die for us, and that’s why we fell down in the first half, but I told them, at least if we don’t get a win, let’s make sure we relax and enjoy the atmosphere – it’s ‘magic’.”
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Toulouse head coach Sylvain Houles says his team executed the second half perfectly after an incredible comeback victory against Wakefield
Wakefield were not helped by playing 20 minutes of the second half a man down due to try-scorer David Fifita and Rob Butler both having spells in the sin-bin.
However, head coach Willie Poching is keeping a positive frame of mind as they enter the last nine games of the regular season with their destiny still in their own hands.
“We’re in control of it – there’s still some more footy to play and that starts next week [away to Hull Kingston Rovers],” Poching said.
“We’ll get back to the drawing board and we’ll have some open and honest discussions, then we’ll get back onto chasing the two points next week.
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Wakefield head coach Willie Poching was critical of his side’s discipline in their defeat to Toulouse
“I’ve still got the belief and I know the players have got a lot of belief in each other. As far as the battle’s concerned, we’re in control of it and we’re not hoping that other teams trip over.”
Peat questions Singleton red card
Matt Peet was left to rue a red card for Brad Singleton on the prop’s 200th Super League appearance as Wigan Warriors were edged out 20-18 in the derby clash with St Helens.
Singleton was dismissed for a shoulder to the head of Curtis Sironen in the second half of the match, with Saints second row staying down for treatment after the incident.
Wigan head coach Peet did not hide behind the dismissal as an excuse for the loss, but questioned whether that was the sanction the offence deserved.
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Wigan Warriors’ Brad Singleton gets a red card on his 200th appearance against rivals St Helens
“I could understand why it was given but sometimes I think the difference between a red and a yellow is open to interpretation,” Peet said.
“I think the dangerous thing about it now is that players are aware of it and physios are aware of it, players staying on the ground which probably crept into some of our players, which I don’t like.
“If that’s the way we’re going to police the game, that’s the danger, but we’ve got to be better technique wise and, if we are down to 12 men, we’ve got to handle that scenario better.”
It needed late tries from Regan Grace and Jonny Lomax to seal the win for Saints in a see-saw contest in Newcastle.
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Wigan Warriors head coach Matt Peet says his team will learn a lot after a crushing late defeat to St Helens
The result would have also given extra cheer to Alex Walmsley, who was a late withdrawal due to his wife giving birth to their third child.
“The team was only finalised at about 12.30 today,” St Helens head coach Kristian Woolf said. “Al wanted every opportunity to be here, but his wife is in labour and it’s really important for him to be there to support here.
“It’s important to do the right thing by her and we were able to do the job without him.
“I’m really proud of our blokes today. It was a high-quality game of footy, it had that finals feel about it.”
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St Helens’ head coach Kristian Woolf says Joe Batchelor and Jonny Lomax were incredible after their late heroics against Wigan Warriors
Burrow family’s message inspires Rhinos to win
Leeds Rhinos head coach Rohan Smith revealed how a pre-match message from Rob Burrow’s young family inspired his side to sink Castleford Tigers.
Burrow’s daughters Macy and Maya visited the team in their St James’ Park dressing room to explain the special shirt they had designed for the occasion to raise awareness and funds for their father’s Motor Neurone Disease campaign.
Burrow and his family were also watching on as the Rhinos cruised to a 34-20 success in Newcastle and Smith spoke afterwards about the impact their presence had.
“We spoke about it a couple of times in the week without trying to make it too emotional,” Smith said.
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The Burrow family speak about their charity work and the shirts that they’ve designed for Leeds Rhinos
“We had the pleasure of the family coming to speak to the players before the game. His beautiful little girls talking about the making of the jersey and the design was very special for all of us, and I hope we’ve done the family proud today.
“I think we played pretty hard and tough in the first half, and maybe we were getting the rewards in the second half.”
Tigers boss Lee Radford felt his side showed plenty of character in fighting back to score two late consolation tries through Bureta Faraimo, his second of the game, and Mahe Fonua, with Jake Mamo also on the scoresheet.
However, he admitted his own side’s stand-off issues remain a concern, with regular wing or full-back Greg Eden likely to continue in the unfamiliar role he found himself in against the Rhinos.
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Castleford Tigers head coach Lee Radford says his team kept swinging as they lost to Leeds Rhinos
“When you’re picking between a winger and a front row who’s going to be playing at six for you, you know your shifts and your fluency isn’t going to be what it’s been throughout the year,” Radford said.
“But none of them are back any time soon, so we’ve got to work on that and hopefully with a couple more weeks in that position, we can see some improvements and development.”
