Warrington Wolves’ former Wests Tigers fullback Brett Hodgson insists they are determined to learn from last year’s Super League playoff semi-final heartbreak.
The 34-year-old’s 12-point haul proved decisive in the Wolves’ 24-12 victory against Hull FC at the Halliwell Jones Stadium on Saturday that earned the Challenge Cup winners a last-four berth and kept alive their double hopes.
Also on the scoresheet was Trent Waterhouse, a 2003 NRL grand final winner with Penrith, and his experience may come in useful next weekend as the Wolves go in search of their first Grand Final appearance.
But Hodgson said he was still smarting from the 26-24 defeat by eventual champions Leeds Rhinos that ended Warrington’s hopes last season.
“I don’t think we were at our best here against Hull, it was a traditional hard-fought battle which is something we need to learn from and we probably learnt a bit here in how to grind out a result.
“We were disappointed with how we performed last week against a very good St Helens side and they set the marker down with where we need to be.
“I think we can turn the form around, I think every week in the play-offs you need to go up another level and we learnt that last season.
“We were a little open against a side that came out and put us under some pressure and it was a very tough game but you have to give a lot of credit to Hull, I think they played very well.”
On Friday, Catalan Dragons’ play-off campaign came to an underwhelming end and former Manly second rower Steve Menzies claims they only have themselves to blame.
The French side were beaten 27-20 by Leeds Rhinos in the preliminary semi-final but, having twice been in the lead, Menzies, the oldest player in Super League at 38, admitted it was a case of what might have been.
The clash also marked Trent Robinson’s last game in charge of the Dragons before he takes over as head coach of Sydney Roosters in the NRL.
Catalan got off to the perfect start when Clint Greenshields crossed in the opening stages.
However, two quick fire tries from Stevie Ward and Shaun Lunt gave Leeds a foothold in the game just before the break.
Despite that set-back Damien Blanch restored the hosts’ lead with tries either side of the break but again that was relinquished with two tries in as many minutes from Carl Ablett and Danny McGuire.
And although Thomas Bosc got a consolation score late on, it was the lapses in concentration that cost the Dragons dear according to Menzies.
“We just went to sleep twice for a couple of minutes and they scored back-to-back tries. They’re a team that can hurt you from anywhere on the field,” said Menzies, who signed a new one-year contract extension at the Stade Gilbert Brutus in mid-week.
“Those lapses came back to haunt us. We gave ourselves a chance but we needed to be a bit more composed.”
