Kenneth Jarvis, Warrington Wolves Blogger

Before the match on Saturday I was wondering what I’d be writing about following it, and what would be the story of the match. I had it in my head that it could be about Chris Sandow, and how he took on the mantle of being Warrington’s star man and thrived under the Wembley pressure much the same way as Lee Briers did. The sad fact was however, that the exact opposite was true. There was no magic from Sandow’s boots and the man that was apparently bouncing off the walls with how excited he was to play, was very quiet.

He tried to make things work and didn’t go hiding, but not much came off for him as his kicks either found Hull FC players or were just plain ineffective. The whole kicking game from Warrington was poor and it had already cost us vs Hull this season, and it did so again. This time though, it was the biggest stage of all and some players thrive and some crumble, Warrington’s star men went missing.

One of those star men was Kurt Gidley, a man who I thought would have a superb game. For a man in his 30’s with his reputation, it was a surprise that his was the biggest stage that he’s ever played on, and it showed. Instead of playing like a wise old veteran with a deadly accurate kicking technique, he turned into something more akin to a nervous teenager. If there was one stand out moment that was crucial to the match, it could well have been the penalty that Warrington got at the start of the 2nd half which was fairly straight, and you would have bet a lot of money on Gidley making the kick. Instead, for some reason, it sailed wide. Why? It had to be that pressure. Warrington’s next match is against the Catalan Dragons and if Gidley gets a kick in the exact same spot then it’ll be two points. Gidley has had pressure kicks this season, most notably against Catalans, but this wasn’t a Super League match in front of 10,000 people, this was a cup final in front of 75,000.

Stefan Ratchford is another player that made some huge errors, and for all his flashy brilliance at times, he always seems to be around when things go badly at crucial times. Whether it was letting 40/20 through his grasp, knocking on close to our own line or missing the jump from their kick, it was the type of errors that can’t happen in such a big match.

In Warrington’s last three Challenge Cup finals, we were the big favourites vs Huddersfield and Leeds didn’t play to their ability in the two times we beat them. Against Hull FC, the teams were evenly matched, and they were at 100%. Warrington had to be more perfect than the opposition, Warrington had to make less crucial errors, more of Warrington’s star men had to turn up on the day, none of that happened.

There is no shame in losing to such a great team, but a few of our players will look back at their own performance and knew they could have done more. There are a few big named players who had never played on such a big stage, and may never do so again. The focus now for Warrington is giving those players a 2nd chance at Old Trafford, and putting right the wrongs of Wembley.