Magic Weekend 2023: What the Super League coaches said on Day 1 at Newcastle’s St James’ Park
Ryan Brierley celebrates Salford’s win over Hull KR with Tyler Dupree
We round up the best post-match quotes from the head coaches as Salford Red Devils, Catalans Dragons and Castleford Tigers emerged victorious on Day 1 of the Betfred Super League’s Magic Weekend in Newcastle…
Brierley for England?
Ryan Brierley has already starred on the international stage for Scotland, but his club head coach Paul Rowley believes England boss Shaun Wane should be considering tempting the full-back into switching allegiances.
The Salford Red Devils No 1 played a starring role in their 26-16 win over Hull Kingston Rovers on the first day of this year’s Magic Weekend, including making two piercing breaks which led to the game-clinching tries for his side.
Rowley is a long-time admirer of Brierley, having coached him at both Leigh and Toronto Wolfpack, and believes he is among the Salford players national team chief Wane should be casting his eye over ahead of this year’s three-Test series against Tonga.
“He’s been the best full-back on the pitch in all of our last five or six games,” Rowley said after another strong showing at St James’ Park.
“We’ve got several people who are quietly letting their actions speak louder than words, but at some point, you’ve got to start looking at the end of the season and some selections there.”
It was a win which lifted the Red Devils up into fourth place in the Super League table and two points clear of fellow play-off contenders Hull KR, whose head coach Willie Peters made no excuses following his side’s fifth defeat of the campaign.
Highlights from the Magic Weekend Super League clash between Salford Red Devils and Hull KR.
“It was a tough afternoon and we got what we deserved,” Peters said. “We were lucky to be in front at half-time, then in the second half there were too many errors and too much indiscipline.”
Johnstone stars again
A hat-trick to help Catalans defeat Wigan Warriors 46-22 in the second game of the day at St James’ Park took Tom Johnstone to the top of the Super League try-scoring charts with 17 for the season so far.
The 27-year-old winger has been in scintillating form following his move to the south of France over the winter, departing Wakefield Trinity after eight seasons in West Yorkshire.
Dragons boss Steve McNamara was full of praise for what Johnstone has contributed all season and particularly how he continues to be one of Super League’s most prolific scorers after twice overcoming ACL injuries earlier in his career.
Highlights from the Magic Weekend Super League clash between Wigan Warriors and Catalans Dragons.
“His highlights reel will be from today, clearly his finishing and the tries he scores, but his all-round game has been superb for us all season,” McNamara said.
“I’m really pleased for Tom. He’s had a couple of dreadful years with injuries and there was an opportunity for us to get him and he’s just been great since day one.
“He’s a great kid, works really hard, does some of the tougher stuff there really well as well, some of the carries that he won’t get recognition for, but the team really appreciate so I’m really pleased for him.”
The result took Catalans to the summit of Super League on points difference from Warrington Wolves, who faced Hull FC in the final game of the weekend on Sunday.
Catalans Dragons’ Tom Johnstone is named Player of the Match after their 46-22 thrashing of Wigan Warriors.
It put them two points clear of Wigan, with Warriors head coach Matt Peet annoyed by his side’s failings in the defeat.
“We were poor in the areas with real simple things, our core skill was poor and some of our defense was sub-par,” Peet said. “I think today was a big event, the lads are gutted, we let ourselves down.
“Catalans are an excellent team and I think that’s shown an insight into what they’re capable of, they’re very clinical in what they do.”
Last not looking over his shoulder
Andy Last was a relieved man as Castleford boosted their Super League survival hopes with a crucial win over Leeds Rhinos in the final match of Day 1.
Highlights from the Magic Weekend Super League clash between Leeds Rhinos and Castleford Tigers.
The 26-24 triumph, secured by a late Jason Qareqare try and conversion from Gareth Widdop, marked only the third time this year the Tigers have tasted victory in the competition.
More importantly though, it lifted them six points clear of local rivals Wakefield Trinity, who aim to end their winless run against play-off chasing Leigh Leopards in the opening game on Sunday.
“I don’t want to look at Wakefield too much because it’s really important that we take care of our own business,” Last said.
“It was evident today that those players who’ve been excellent in the past can put up a performance of quality and if we get more of that from our senior blokes, we’ll get more wins than losses, and it will be out of Wakefield’s hands.”
Castleford Tigers head coach Andy Last says he won’t get carried away with their victory over the Leeds Rhinos but believes they needed it more than their rivals.
It was a frustrating evening for Leeds head coach Rohan Smith, whose side are still four points off the play-off places, but he backed his players to turn the corner.
“It wasn’t anywhere near the standard,” Smith said. “We’ve been up for it a lot lately and today our execution was a long way off.
“We just didn’t have that usual level of connectedness and discipline and trust, so they created more opportunities than we would have liked to provide.
“But everyone who watches rugby league has seen the character in this group – we’ve been backs against the wall a lot lately and today we were also under pressure.”
Watch all three games on Day 2 of the Betfred Super League’s Magic Weekend at Newcastle’s St James’ Park live on Sky Sports Arena from 11.30am. Also stream on NOW TV.
