Engage Super
League Rd 12 review

Bradford Bulls 54 (Gene 3, B. Harris 2, Bai, Hape, Ferres, Lynch, Vainikolo tries; I. Harris 5, Ferres 2 goals) def. Catalans Dragons 6 (Rudder try; Dobson goal). Att: 10,522.

Bradford Bulls ran in 10 tries to give new coach Steve McNamara his first victory at Odsal as they destroyed a poor Catalans Dragons. In a scrappy game, the home team took a commanding 26-0 lead at the break with five first half tries.

The second half was know better for the Dragons as the host scored five more tries. Man of the match Stanley Gene scored his first hat-trick for the Bulls and a Shaun Rudder try was the only consolation for the visitors. Catalans must learn from this game as numerous handling errors cost them dearly against a ruthless Bulls team.

St Helens 34 (Pryce 2, Graham 2, Sculthorpe, Long tries; Hooper 4, Long goals) def. Wakefield Wildcats 8 (Tadulala 2 tries). Att: 10,091.

St Helens continued their 100% start as they out muscled the Wakefield Wildcats at Knowsley Road. The Saints opened the scoring early on when skipper Paul Sculthorpe crashed over. The visitors then took the lead with a brace of tries from flying Fijian Semi Tadulala, however right on halftime a Leon Pryce try gave the home team a slender 10-8 lead at the break.

In the second half it was one way traffic as St Helens ran in 4 tries, a second for Pryce, Sean Long and two for youngster James Graham, who wrapped up the scoring in the final minute of the game.

Harlequins R.L. 22 (Bradley-Qalilawa 2, McLinden, Mills tries; Purdham 2, Paul goals) def. Huddersfield Giants 16 (Evans, Donlan, Jones tries; De Vere 2 goals). Att: 12,301.

Harlequins gained a nervy victory over the Huddersfield Giants at the Twickenham Stoop. The home team took the lead after 21 minutes with a try from man of the match Mark McLinden. On 34 minutes, Harlequins extended their lead when David Mills powered over. Stuart Jones replied with a try for the Giants, to cut the lead to 12-6 at the break.

At the beginning of the second half James Evans? try for the visitors cut the deficit to 12-10, but a brace from Nick Bradley-Qalilawa put the Quins 22-10 up with eight minutes left. A late Stuart Donlan try could not stop a fifth straight defeat for the Giants. With over 12,000 people present, this result will hopefully kick start the Harlequins season as they try to push for a top six place.

Castleford Tigers 28 (Nutley, Davis, Roarty, Manu, Fa?aoso, Viane tries; Huby 2 goals) def. Salford City Reds 26 (Wilshere, Hodgson, Langi, Moule, Finnigan tries; Wilshere 3 goals). Att: 6,069.

The Castleford Tigers came back from the dead for a shock victory over the Salford City Reds at the Jungle. Castleford, who had suffered a heavy walloping in their two previous games, took the lead when Ben Roarty went over from close range. The visitors stunned the hosts and took the lead when Simon Finnigan scored a breakaway try, but the home team hit back when veteran scrum-half Brad Davis jinked through from close range.

Salford then scored two quick tries and went into the break leading 16-8. Two tries in the opening quarter of the second half put the City Reds into a commanding 26-8 lead. However, the Tigers then produced the comeback of the season to score four tries in the last 17 minutes of the game through Danny Nutley, Richard Fa?aoso, Gray Viane and Willie Manu. The Tigers withstood some late Salford pressure to hold on to a memorable victory.

Hull F.C 54 (Tony 2, Dixon 2, Blacklock 2, Radford, Yeaman, R Horne tries; Cooke 9 goals) def. Wigan Warriors 12 (Richards, James tries; Richards 2 goals). Att: 12,722.

New Hull coach Peter Sharp had a dream start as his team ran riot to leave the Wigan Warriors bottom of the engage Super League table at the K.C. Stadium. The game was all over by half-time as the Black and Whites ran in 7 unanswered tries playing some champagne rugby to take a commanding 42-0 lead.

The visitors did take some consolation as in the second half they managed to score two tries and share the spoils with the home team. Man of the match Paul Cook kicked 9 from 9 conversions and had a hand in few of Hull?s tries. New Wigan coach Brian Noble?s short-lived honeymoon period came to an abrupt halt and he now knows what a tough job he has in keeping the Warriors in the Super League.

Warrington Wolves 44 (Fa?afili 3, Parker 2, Clarke, Rauhihi, Barnett tries; Briers 6 goals) def. Leeds Rhinos 16 (Burrow, Smith, McGuire tries; Burrow, Smith goals). Att: 11,753.

Warrington Wolves ripped the Leeds Rhinos to shreds as they gained victory at the Halliwell Jones Stadium. The Wolves claimed their fifth victory in their last six league games with a superb all-round showing against a Rhinos outfit that fell apart after a good opening 10 minutes.

Henry Fa'afili was again the star performer scoring a hat-trick of tries while Rob Parker grabbed two more and Paul Rauhihi, Jon Clarke and Richie Barnett also got in on the act with Lee Briers adding six conversions. Leeds, who missed the chance to close to within four points of leaders St Helens, scored tries through Lee Smith, Rob Burrow and Danny McGuire but were comprehensively outplayed by the Wolves.