WRAP: 2023 Betfred Super League Round 5

A full wrap of Round 5 Super League thanks to AJ Lucantonio and Rugby League Project.

All listed times are AEDT (NSW/VIC/ACT). Subtract 11 times for UK local GMT.

RELATED: See the full list of 2023 Betfred Super League Draw and Results.

Castleford Tigers 14 Leeds Rhinos 8

Venue: Mend-A-Hose Jungle, Castleford
Crowd: 7458
Date: Friday 17 March 2023 at 7:00am

Castleford Tigers (14)
Tries: Bureta Fairamo 2
Goals: Gareth Widdop 3/4

Leeds Rhinos (8)
Tries: Richie Myler
Goals: Rhyse Martin 2/2

Castleford: Eden, Faraimo, Broadbent, Fonua, Qareqare; Widdop, Miller; Lawler, McShane, Massey, Milner, Mellor, Westerman. Int: Edwards, Smith, Matagi, Watts.
Leeds: Myler, Olpherts, Macdonald, Newman, Fusitu'a; Austin, Sezer; Holroyd, O'Connor, Tetevano, McDonnell, Martin, Smith. Int: Bentley, Lisone, Sangaré, Roberts.

The Castleford Tigers have claimed their first victory of the season downing the Leeds Rhinos 14-8 at the Mend-a-Hose Jungle.

After a scrappy opening in which both sides were showing their slow start to 2023. The Tigers pounced when Bureta Faraimo crossed for the first of his two tries crossing in the corner.

However, almost immediately they were made to pay just two minutes later when the impressive Cameron Smith barged through two tackles and passed to Austin, whose neat lay-off sent Richie Myler in for Leeds, with Rhyse Martin's extras putting them in front.

Gareth Widdop knocked over a penalty goal three minutes later after a late shot from the much maligned James Bentley. Before the break, a short dropout failed to break the plane and Martin was jolly on the spot to add the extras to lock the scores up at 8-8 at the change of ends.

After a competitive first quarter-hour of the second half Castleford made them pay when Widdop farmed the ball out right from a scrum and Greg Eden's neat pass sent Faraimo in for his second. Widdop knocked over a gift two points to seal the six point advantage and win number one on the new season.

Huddersfield Giants 12 Wigan Warriors 14

Venue: John Smith's Stadium, Huddersfield
Crowd: 5777
Date: Saturday 18 March 2023 at 6:45am

Huddersfield Giants (12)
Tries: Kevin Naiqama
Goals: Oliver Russell 4/4

Wigan Warriors (14)
Tries: Bevan French 2, Jake Wardle
Goals: Harry Smith 1/3

Huddersfield: Lolohea, Bibby, Marsters, Naiqama, Cudjoe; Pryce, Russell; Hill, Peats, Wilson, McQueen, Jones, Yates. Int: Ashworth, Golding, Ikahihifo, Rushton.
Wigan: Field, French, King, Wardle, Marshall; Cust, Smith; Byrne, Powell, Cooper, Isa, Farrell, Smithies. Int: Havard, Ellis, Mago, Pearce-Paul.

Wigan has bounced back to winning ways beating a determined Huddersfield Giants side by 14-12 at John Smith Stadium.

Huddersfield opened the scoring with a penalty goal in the ninth minute, however Wigan were intent on bouncing back after last week's loss to Catalans and started intently. Bevan French opened the try scoring with a well worked set play.

Huddersfield added another penalty goal when Oliver Russell added his second penalty goal to tie the game up. Wigan added their second try nine minutes later when Jacob Wardle won the race to a bomb.

Huddersfield spent the rest of the first half and the early part of the second half camped in Wigan territory without fashioning a single try-scoring opportunity.

They had a rare Liam Marshall blunder to thank for their only score through Kevin Naiqama soon after the start of the second half.

Wigan wouldn't be denied when French crossed for his second just after the hour mark to allow Wigan to bounceback after last week's shock loss to the Dragons.

Warrington Wolves 38 Leigh Leopards 20

Venue: Halliwell Jones Stadium, Warrington
Crowd: 12073
Date: Saturday 18 March 2023 at 7:00am

Warrington Wolves (38)
Tries: Matty Ashton 3, Josh Drinkwater, Paul Vaughan, Matt Dufty, Stefan Ratchford
Goals: Stefan Ratchford 5/8

Leigh Leopards (20)
Tries: Tom Briscoe, Josh Charnley, Tom Amone, Zak Hardaker
Goals: Zak Hardaker 2/4

Warrington: Dufty, Thewlis, Mata'utia, Ratchford, Ashton; Williams, Drinkwater; Mikaele, Clark, Vaughan, Currie, Nicholson, Kasiano. Int: Walker, Minikin, Thomas, Philbin.
Leigh: O'Brien, Briscoe, Hardaker, Leutele, Charnley; Mellor, Lam; Amone, Davis, Mulhern, Shorrocks, O'Donnell, Asiata. Int: Nakubuwai, Seumanufagai, Ipape, Hughes.

Warrington have continued their unbeaten start to 2023 downing the Leigh Leopards 38-20.

Warrington showcased their brutal attacking flair inside the very first minute when Josh Drinkwater was on the end of a brilliant attacking move by Matt Dufty. Eight minutes later, Paul Vaughan crashed over from short range and it looked set to be a long night for the Leopards.

Leigh responded in the 15th minute of play when Tom Briscoe crossed following a good set play from Joe Mellor and Gareth O'Brien, but still were trailing by 10-4. The kick proved troublesome for Leigh, when the Leopards failed to lure in Drinkwater's crossfield kick, Stefan Ratchford could, and the Wolves were up and about.

Matt Dufty added to Adrian Lam and Leigh's troubles six minutes from the break when he crossed to extend the margin to 18 points. The Leopards crossed before the break when Josh Charnley crossed in the far left hand corner to give Leigh a chance.

That was all extinguished in one scintillating raid of attacking football. Matty Ashton crossed for three tries within an eight minute period. His first came following a great offload from Greg Minikin. His second was off a lovely cut pass by Dufty which was batted onto Ashton by Ratchford. Leigh's issues were compounded when Edwin Ipape was yellow carded for a late tackle by Ben Thaler. Ashton's third was off a great dummy half pass from Danny Walker.

Leigh showed some resilience down 38-8 and they received a boost when Sam Kasiano was sent to the naughty corner by Thaler for a late swinging arm. Tom Amone was the beneficiary of a clever Lachie Lam kick to reduce the gap. Leigh added another late consolation try when Zak Hardaker crossed in controversial circumstances to reduce the margin to 18.

St Helens 20 Hull FC 12

Venue: Totally Wicked Stadium, St Helens
Crowd: 9218
Date: Saturday 18 March 2023 at 7:00am

St Helens (20)
Tries: Jon Bennison 2, Jack Welsby, Ben Davies
Goals: Joey Lussick 2/3, Tommy Makinson 0/1

Hull FC (12)
Tries: Jake Clifford, Scott Taylor
Goals: Jake Clifford 2/2

St Helens: Welsby, Makinson, Davies, Ritson, Bennison; Lomax, Dodd; Walmsley, Roby, Lees, Bell, Sironen, Knowles. Int: Lussick, McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Wingfield, Paasi.
Hull FC: Hoy, Swift, Griffin, Scott, Litten; Lovodua, Clifford; Brown, Houghton, Satae, Savelio, Sao, Fash. Int: Lane, Cator, Taylor, Dwyer.

A Jon Bennison double has allowed St Helens to come from behind to down Hull FC 20-12.

Hull FC had conceded almost 100 points in their last two games so defence was at the forefront of their game. It was a tight and scrappy opening to this contest with the first try of the game coming just before the half-time siren. Ben Davies was able to scoop up Jake Clifford's short dropout to score the opening try.

Hull showed that Saints' try had failed to ruin their resolve as they scored eight minutes into the second half. Scott Taylor barged his way over from close range. The conversion from Clifford gave Hull a 6-4 lead.

Eight minutes after Taylor's effort. Saints responded when Jon Bennison crossed for the first of his two tries after great lead-up work from Tee Ritson. This was added to 6 minutes later, when Jack Welsby crossed after supporting James Bell well.

Hull weren't going down without a fight and it was Clifford who scored with 16 minutes remaining in the contest. However, Saints made sure of the win with two minutes remaining when Bennison went over in the corner.

Catalans Dragons 26 Hull KR 12

Venue: Stade Gilbert Brutus, Perpignan
Crowd: 7682
Date: Sunday 19 March 2023 at 4:00am

Catalans Dragons (26)
Tries: Tom Johnstone 3, Julian Bousquet, Tom Davies
Goals: Arthur Mourgue 2, Adam Keighran

Hull KR (12)
Tries: Ryan Hall, Rowan Milnes
Goals: Mikey Lewis 2

Catalans: Mourgue, Davies, Keighran, Romano, Johnstone; May, Rougé; McMeeken, McIlorum, Bousquet, Ma'u, Séguier, Garcia. Int: Da Costa, Goudemand, Dezaria, Chan.
Hull KR: Coote, Senior, Opacic, Wood, Hall; Lewis, Abdull; Kennedy, Litten, King, Halton, Batchelor, Hadley. Int: Sue, Minchella, Milnes, Luckley.

Catalans have continued their good run of recent form downing Hull KR by 26-12.

Tom Johnstone began the scoring with the first of his three tries inside the first five minutes of play after backing up Adam Keighran after the former Rooster swooped onto an intercept.

Fifteen minutes later, Tom Davies crossed for the Dragons after Lachlan Coote failed to clean up a grubber kick from Tyrone May and the Dragons were enjoying a good run of possession and had the points to back it up. The Dragons led 10-0 at half-time.

That margin was extended 9 minutes after the resumption of play when Johnstone crossed for his second try. Johnstone scooped up a poor pass from Mikey Lewis to race the best part of 50 metres untouched to get the Dragons third. Hull KR hit back four minutes later when Rowan Milnes crossed for the Rovers first try of the contest. However, two quick tries by the Dragons put the game beyond doubt.

Johnstone crossed for his hattrick after a lovely cut-out ball from May. Before four minutes later, Julian Bousquet crossed the line for the first time since May 2022 to give the Dragons guaranteed points. A late consolation try to Ryan Hall gave Rovers some score-board credibility, but after a 2-0 start. It's proving to be quite the mountain for Willie Peters to climb.

Salford Red Devils 14 Wakefield Trinity 13

Venue: Salford Stadium, Barton-upon-Irwell
Crowd: 4757
Date: Monday 20 March 2023 at 2:00am

Salford Red Devils (14)
Tries: Matty Costello, Chris Atkin
Goals: Marc Sneyd 2/2
Field Goals: Marc Sneyd 2

Wakefield Trinity (13)
Tries: Corey Hall, Reece Lyne
Goals: Mason Lino 2/3
Field Goal: Mason Lino 1

Salford: Brierley, Sio, Cross, Costello, Williams; Croft, Sneyd; Ormondroyd, Ackers, Vuniyayawa, Watkins, Wright, Atkin. Int: Stone, Addy, Dupree, Sidlow.
Wakefield: Kay, Kershaw, Lyne, Hall, Taufua; Smith, Lino; Atoni, Hood, Whitbread, Ashurst, Pitts, Crowther. Int: Battye, Bowes, Eseh, Hewitt

A field goal shootout late was the catalyst for 2023's first golden point match.

Salford had taken the lead in the fourth minute when Brodie Croft and Ryan Brierley combined on the left edge to send Costello racing through for a try which Sneyd converted. But the scores were level in the 12th minute when Wakefield finally ended their long wait for a try. Corey Hall crossed in the 11th minute of play after quick hands saw the winger cross.

Wakefield then took the lead in the 24th minute when Mason Lino's kick to the corner was spilled by Williams and Reece Lyne was able to gather the ball and score. Lino missed the conversion but Wakefield led 10-6.

Chris Atkin spied a gap from dummy half and shot through from five metres to score. Sneyd converted to give Salford a 12-10 lead just before the break. After a desperate wait for points in the second half, Lino added a penalty goal to tie the game up.

Marc Sneyd and Mason Lino then exchanged field goals to send the match into golden point before Sneyd proved match winner with an 84th minute field goal to condemn the Wildcats to their fifth straight defeat.

Table after Round 5

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RLP stats leaders

Top tries

Top points

Thanks to RLP!