George Williams is Super League’s best, Josh Thewlis for England? The Debrief
Warrington Wolves moved to the top of Super League with a hard-earned but ultimately deserved 20-8 victory over Hull KR on Thursday evening.
Sam Burgess’ side once again caught the eye, capitalising on a rare off-colour display from Willie Peters’ Robins. Here’s our debrief of the game’s big talking points.
Hull KR’s defensive structures missed one man
The focus and attention will, perhaps understandably, be on Hull KR’s right-edge when there is a debrief of this frustrating defeat. But defensive structures can be led and marshalled by the men in the middle – and the absence of Rovers’ captain was definitely felt.
Some of their mistakes defensively were extremely uncharacteristic, and the presence of Elliot Minchella, one of Super League’s best defensive forwards, was keenly missed. There is plenty of debate about the importance of a good, old-fashioned 13 – but Minchella makes an enormous difference to Rovers when he was on the field.
Some of those errors simply wouldn’t have happened tonight with Minchella in the middle leading his side.
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Is Josh Thewlis Super League’s most under-rated winger?
He was on the scoresheet for his goal-kicking – but Josh Thewlis continues to make huge strides in his general all-round game.
His stats were through the roof on Thursday night, covering huge metres – averaging over 11 per carry – and helping put Warrington on the front foot time and time again. There are a whole host of top wingers in Super League, and even a group who would be classed as under-rated.
But Thewlis is definitely a player who falls into both brackets right now. Will Shaun Wane be watching?
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George Williams is Super League’s best player in 2024
There are world-class talents everywhere you look in Super League these days. Two of them were on the field on Thursday night and the battle between England half-backs George Williams and Mikey Lewis – but one man definitively came out on top.
Williams may not be top of the Steve Prescott MBE Man of Steel leaderboard but surely there can be no doubting that he is – this year at least – the competition’s best player. Time and time again, he was influential in Hull KR’s right-edge biting and jumping out of the line.
Williams may not have been throwing the killer pass every single time, but Rovers panicked whenever Williams got his hands on the ball. He caused chaos, and was too quick for the Robins each and every time.
The England captain has to be the premiere player in Super League right now.
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