Super League round one: Warrington battle to 20-12 victory against Huddersfield in battle of Burgess brothers

Warrington won the battle of the Burgess brothers after a hard-fought 20-12 victory at Huddersfield in the Betfred Super League’s final opening-round fixture.

Wolves head coach Sam Burgess came out on top against younger brother Tom Burgess, his former South Sydney Rabbitohs team-mate, who made his Giants debut following his return to Yorkshire from the NRL.

But rusty Warrington were made to work hard for their opening-day win after trailing 6-4 at half-time.

Giants stand-off Tui Lolohea marked his 250th career appearance with the game’s opening try, converted by Danny Richardson, before the Wolves hit back through Aaron Lindop’s score at the end of the first period.

The Wolves were much improved in the second half and led 14-6 after tries from wing Matty Ashton and centre Toby King, the latter’s not converted.

Giants forward Jordy Crowther ensured an intriguing finish when he barged over to cut the deficit to 14-12 with just over 10 minutes left, but Wolves full-back Matt Dufty’s late converted touchdown sealed a hard-fought win for the visitors.

Huddersfield, heavily beaten by Warrington in both Super League encounters and the Challenge Cup last season as they finished way short of the play-offs, were more than a match for the visitors in the first half.

Stand-off Lolohea darted on to Zac Woolford’s looping pass and went over near the posts for the opening try in the 25th minute and Richardson added the extras to give the Giants a deserved 6-0 lead.

Wolves were guilty of some sloppy play – captain George Williams passed straight into touch – as they looked for a quick response.

But they punished the Giants when second row Joe Greenwood dropped the ball deep in his own territory just before half-time and Wolves centre Lindop powered through a gap to touch down and reduce the deficit.

Stefan Ratchford missed his conversion attempt and the first period ended with Huddersfield holding a slender 6-4 advantage.

Warrington stepped it up after the restart and after Ashton raced on to Dufty’s pass to go over in the corner, Ratchford converted to edge the visitors 10-6 ahead.

The Wolves had the hosts penned in and although the home crowd was lifted by Jordy Crowther’s interception – the big forward galloped over halfway before being hauled down – their side soon fell further behind.

King raced on to another precision pass from Dufty down the left for an unconverted try, which put the visitors 14-6 ahead.

But the Giants hit back with just over 12 minutes remaining to set up a grandstand finish.

Crowther carried three tacklers over the line and with the try confirmed by the video referee and Richardson converting, Huddersfield trailed 14-12.

Hopes of a late fightback were quickly extinguished though. Wolves went straight on the offensive and Dufty darted over to dot down his own grubber kick, with Ratchford conversion securing victory by an eight-point margin.

Sky Sports will again show every game of the Super League live this season – including two matches in each round exclusively live, with the remaining four matches each week shown on Sky Sports+