Rugby League Coaching Manuals

Hull ace Danny Tickle ran riot in Bridgend to spoil the Celtic Crusaders' maiden engage Super League home fixture and guide his side to a second victory of the campaign. The second rower was in devastating form as he ran over for a hat-trick of tries and booted four conversions to give Hull a 28-20 success.

The Welsh club took the lead early on when stand-off Damien Quinn went rushing through on the left after he was put in by Chris Beasley for the opening try of the game - and the historic first one scored in Wales by a home club.

The noisy home crowd roared second row Marshall Chalk, was put in by skipper Jace Van Dijk in the 22, over the line for a second try.

A conversion from Josh Hannay meant the Crusaders were 10-0 up and on the crest of a wave.

However, Hull calmed matters down and, after Shaun Berrigan had scored the first try when he got past Van Dijk, they began to assert their authority.

Tickle got his first touchdown on 36 minutes with a second conversion putting Hull into a 12-10 lead.

And two more either side of half-time meant Hull surged into a 24-10 lead and left the Welshmen floundering.

The atmosphere went quiet midway through the match after Chalk got his second try - but it picked up when Mark Calderwood went over in the closing minutes for an unconverted touchdown, before Crusaders' try machine Tony Duggan got a consolation at the end.

Catalans came from 18-6 down to cruise to a 40-20 win of the season in a feisty clash at Warrington.

Warrington looked in complete control thanks to tries from Matt King, Garreth Carvell and Chris Hicks but they collapsed alarmingly and conceded five tries in a one-sided second half before leaving to boos from their disappointed fans.

Leeds recovered from a half-time deficit to maintain the 100% start to their title defence with a hard-fought 19-10 win at Hull KR on Friday night.

The champions trailed 10-4 after the impressive Shaun Briscoe cancelled out Carl Ablett's early try and Michael Dobson kicked three goals.

Ryan Hall led the fightback with a try early in the second half and youngster Kallum Watkins settled a tight battle eight minutes from time.

It was Leeds' third successive win and ensured they would go into next week's World Club Challenge against Manly Sea Eagles in good heart.

The only downside was a serious-looking injury to prop Ryan Bailey late on while Lee Smith also failed to finish.

Wigan's crisis deepened after a 28-22 loss to Castleford - their third successive defeat condemning them to their worst start to a season for 24 years.

As the Warriors left the JJB with boos ringing in their ears for the second time in three weeks, Castleford fans revelled in their misery, chanting 'you're getting sacked in the morning' to underline the mounting pressure on Brian Noble.

Wigan actually matched their visitors try for try, including a sensational 50-yard effort from debutant teenage winger Shaun Ainscough, but Australians Amos Roberts and Mark Riddell could manage just one conversion between them from five attempts.

The architect of Wigan's downfall was Castleford's experienced scrum-half Brent Sherwin who had a hand or foot in four of their five tries on his first appearance of the season after recovering from ankle surgery.

The Warriors have never lost their opening three games of Super League but they could have no complaints after coming up with another largely uninspiring performance.

Sean Long kicked his 1,000th goal for St Helens as they overcame a spirited Huddersfield to win 23-6 on Sunday.

Ironically, Long had another off day with the boot, missing four of his five conversion attempts, but his drop goal two minutes from the end wrapped up victory at the Galpharm Stadium.

New signing Tony Puletua had earlier broken the deadlock with his first try in Super League while England winger Ade Gardner also got on the scoresheet on his 200th appearance for the club

Lee Gilmour, Gary Wheeler and Paul Wellens also bagged a touchdown for St Helens. Paul Whaturia grabbed Huddersfield's only try.

Wakefield continued their promising start to the season after a first-half blitz saw off newcomers Salford 29-10 at Belle Vue.

Tries from Damien Blanch, Oliver Wilkes and Ryan Atkins helped the Wildcats into a commanding 19-0 lead at the break after an insipid display by the Reds.

Salford caused more problems in the second half and rallied with a Stephen Myler try but Wakefield would not fold.

Atkins and Blanch ended the game with tries in the last five minutes although Willie Talau grabbed a late Salford consolation.