Wolves’ Westwood ready for forward battle at St Helens

Warrington back rower Ben Westwood is expecting a real test when it comes to facing St Helens‘ big middle unit forwards on Thursday night.

Players like Mose Masoe and Alex Walmsley, as well as the returning Kyle Amor, make Saints’ pack a forbidding prospect, but Westwood believes that Tony Smith’s men have the power to overcome them.

“They’ve had a good start to the year, and they’ve got some players who are playing pretty well,” he said of Saints.

“We’ve got to stop them, and I’m sure it’s one everybody’s looking forward to, like they do every year.

“It’s always a big crowd at Saints, and we’ve got a pretty decent record there, too.

“We’re looking forward to the challenge and hopefully we can come away with a good win.

“Mose Masoe is a big lad, and he’s finding a bit of form this year.

“It’s the same with Alex Walmsley, they’re two huge blokes up front.

“They get their pack going forward, and people run off the back of them.

“We’ve got some good players ourselves, and we’ve come up against these good players before and we’ve handled them.

“But we’ve got to handle them tomorrow. Hopefully our pack can get on top of their pack.

“It’ll be a great game to watch, and one that we’re really looking forward to.

“It’s a big challenge, but one that we’re ready for.”

Warrington head into the game against Saints on the back of a solid win over Leeds last week.

Westwood was particuarly pleased with how his team’s wingers handled Leeds’ three-quarter threat.

“It was a great result, and a good performance from ourselves defensively,” he said.

“Our wingers were exceptional as well, coming up against two world-class wingers in my eyes.

“We did a pretty good job on them, and stopping them playing how they like to play.

“You can say it was a benchmark for us, and it’s something we’ll be looking to do every week.”

Westwood has been lining up at loose forward rather than second row this season, and is still adjusting to life in the middle unit.

“I’m still getting used to it in the middle area,” he said.

“At loose forward defensively you’re working a lot harder.

“I feel that I’m finding my feet, but it might take a few more games. Last week I was plesed with how I played.

“I’ve been pleased all year with my form, with the Catalans game as an exception.

“But there’s still a lot more to come from me. I’m sure that the more times I play at loose forward the better I’ll get.”