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Warrington beat Wakefield to extend winning start

Warrington Wolves make it two wins from two in Super League by withstanding a strong Wakefield Trinity fightback at the Halliwell Jones Stadium.

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Warrington beat Wakefield to extend winning start

[Image: Warrington Wolves player Josh Smith is congratulated by team-mates for scoring a try against Wakefield Trinity]
SWPix

Josh Smith scored his first Super League try to help Warrington beat Wakefield

28 February 2026

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Betfred Super League

Warrington Wolves (14) 27

Tries: Sipley, Hopoate, Smith, King Goals: Sneyd 5 Drop goal: Sneyd

Wakefield Trinity (2) 16

Tries: Jowitt, Myers, Pratt Goals: Jowitt 2

Warrington survived a strong Wakefield fightback in the second half to make it two wins from two in Super League.

The Wolves, who were coming off the back of a blank weekend because of Hull Kingston Rovers' involvement in the World Club Challenge, seemed to have taken a firm grip on the game in the first half.

Tries from Toafofoa Sipley and Albert Hopoate, along with the reliable kicking of Marc Sneyd, had them 14-2 up at the break.

Trinity, who chalked up their first win of the season at Huddersfield last week, came back well as Jake Trueman brilliantly created tries for Max Jowitt and Jayden Myers.

Wire replied as Australian newcomer Josh Smith crossed for his first try but Oliver Pratt's score for Trinity set up a nervy ending, with the result settled by Sneyd's drop goal and Toby King's late try.

11 hours ago

Wire gave further evidence that they could make a fist of challenging for honours this season as Sneyd gave a kicking masterclass and they had the defensive resilience to hold firm as Trinity came good.

Wakefield had won the previous three meetings of these two, but they were soon in trouble as Sneyd slotted over a penalty and then video referee Chris Kendall overturned an on-field verdict of "no try" to give Sipley four points.

A few minutes later, Hopoate supported Danny Walker's break to streak away for another try for 14-0.

Wire seemed to have made a costly error as they responded to strong Wakefield pressure right at the end of the half by committing repeat offences which saw Sipley sin-binned and Jowitt kick the resulting penalty to give his side a toe-hold.

That became a firmer platform early in the second half as Trinity made use of the extra man, Trueman slinging a fine pass over the top for Jowitt to score in the corner.

Sipley's first act on returning to the field was a ruck infringement which led to Trueman coming up with an even better looping cut-out pass and Myers finished to cut the lead to just four points.

That spurred Wire into action after a drop in tempo and Sneyd's boot took control as he chipped the ball out to Smith, playing first-class rugby for the first time, to score his first try, which Sneyd converted and then added a penalty to give his side breathing space.

Pratt then got on the end of a fine kick by Jack Sinfield to score in the corner and when Jowitt brilliantly nailed the tough conversion, the game was back in the balance.

Wakefield seemed certain to score as Myers streaked for the corner but 20-year-old full-back Cai Taylor-Wray, who wowed the crowd with his attacking prowess against St Helens, produced a magnificent tackle to bundle him into touch and retain the lead.

Sneyd dropped a goal and then chipped another delicate kick to the corner for Smith to grab and pass in mid-air for King to remove any doubt.

'A really high-quality game'

Warrington coach Sam Burgess told BBC Sport:

"It was a really high-quality game. Both sides were at 90-something percent completion.

"They were physical and we had to ride out the first half but the game lost its way a bit in the second half - [it was] not down to the players, it just got a bit stop-start.

"In the first half we could have attacked a little better. There are areas we can look at where we can challenge a little bit more and ask a few more questions.

"The way the game is going, it will take teams eight to 10 weeks to figure it out, and it's the same with us. Our patience was good at times and we were 100% in the first half until the unfortunate sin-binning."

Warrington Wolves: Taylor-Wray; Thewlis, King, Hopoate, Smith; Williams, Sneyd; Yates, Walker, Byrne, Stone, Harrison, Currie.

Replacements: Sipley, Crowther, Philbin, Tanginoa.

Wakefield Trinity: Jowitt; Pratt, Scott, Hall, Myers; Sinfield, Trueman; McMeeken, Smoothy, Hamlin-Uele, Nikotemo, Vagana, Tevaga.

Replacements: Storton, Pitts, Faatili, Smith.

Referee: Liam Rush

Warrington beat Wakefield to extend winning start

Warrington beat Wakefield to extend winning start

'A really high-quality game'

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