Kenneth Jarvis, Warrington Wolves Blogger

I wrote earlier in the week how Warrington would be hoping to right the wrongs of Wembley and how certain players would be desperate to play and put things right, including Ben Currie.

When the 22 year old let the ball slip from his grasp in the Challenge Cup final, he could have dwelt on it, and let it knock his confidence. It’s clearly a moment that he’ll never forget, but one that will get less and less important as his career carries on, as there’ll be plenty of opportunities for him to win trophies as he is already one of the best players in the league at such a young age.

One of those opportunities to win a trophy will hopefully come again in the Grand Final in October, but before that winning the League Leaders shield too. Ben Currie will be huge part of that happening, which is why it felt so good that he was able to get his redemption so quickly. If you asked any Warringtonian who you’d most like to see run through for a late game winning try, I think most would have said Currie.

It was a brilliant game to win against a tough and physical Catalan side who would have hoped to have bullied our young team. They certainly tried, and that’s when you want the more senior players to step up and fight for the team. That’s exactly what the likes of Chris Hill and Ryan Bailey did, as they made sure the aggressive Catalan side were given back every little bit that they gave whilst staying on the right side of the referee.

There were plenty of young Warrington players to protect as well, in what is probably the most hostile environment that a youngster could step into. A hot day away in France against the nastiest team in the league, no wonder Chris Hill called it the best win of the season. One of the most impressive players on the pitch was the 18 year old Morgan Smith who played at hooker in the absence of Daryl Clark and didn’t look out of place, and was electric at times from dummy half, he clearly has a great career ahead of him. As does Jack Johnson, who showed his mental strength at just 20 years old. His dropped ball early on could have affected him for the whole match, but instead he improved and helped win the match with a try saving tackle on Rémi Casty as the Frenchman was charging to the line. All the young players came out the game with credit, and Dec Patton once again showed how good he is going to be in the absence of Kurt Gidley and Chris Sandow.

All these youngsters have been helped by playing reserve team rugby for Warrington this season, but it was player who hasn’t sampled that environment this season that won the game for Warrington. It’s easy to forget how young Ben Currie is considering how many times he’s played for the club, and how good he is. At that age he could have let the nightmare at Wembley consume him, but instead it appears what he used it as motivation to get better. His face when he ran over the try line said it all. It was a huge moment, not only for a brilliant win in tough conditions, but to give one of our star men his chance at instant redemption.