Wire's goal-kicking change explained as Burgess affirms his first-choice kicker

EVEN though Stefan Ratchford was on the field, there may have been plenty of Warrington Wolves fans surprised to see Josh Thewlis retain goal-kicking duties against Leigh Leopards on Saturday.

However, head coach Sam Burgess insists the hierarchy has not changed and that Ratchford will remain as the club’s first-choice tee-kicker going forward.

The club captain, who jointly holds the world record for consecutive successful kicks at goal having reached 41 earlier this season, came off the interchange bench to replace the injured Connor Wrench just before half time with The Wire trailing 10-6.

Leigh would extend that advantage by four points until late tries from Matt Dufty and Matty Nicholson edged the hosts to a 16-14 win.

Thewlis, who had earlier converted Lachlan Fitzgibbon’s try, kept the kicking tee for both of those tries – he landed the goal for Dufty’s touchdown but was off-target for Nicholson’s.

On the whole, the winger’s success rate has been improving in recent weeks – he has been successful with 11 of his last 13 kicks at goal – but Burgess says Ratchford would have taken over yesterday were it not for “a niggle in his back.”

He did, however, credit Thewlis for the hard work he has done on his goal-kicking alongside Ratchford.

“JT’s a great kicker and has been practicing a lot for the past six or seven weeks. He’s starting to understand that it works in his game,” he said.

“Stef took a bit of a knock – normally, he would kick when he’s on but he had a little niggle in his back.

“If Stef’s on the field, he’ll kick. He’s one of the best in the game.

“He spends a lot of time with JT practicing and trying to improve his game, but Stef’s an out-and-out kicker so unless he’s got a niggle, he’ll generally kick.”