The Whistler Wolves hit their first setback this season on June 24, conceding a 38-20 road decision to the Valley Warriors in Surrey. A slow start and tenacious play from the Warriors made the difference—and to add insult to injury, Whistler lost prop-forward Peter Foley to a season-ending injury.
For the first time in the Wolves' brief history, they sent a full 20-man squad south of Vancouver, representing the work head coach Blake Stewart has put into recruiting this season. On paper, it was the Wolves' game to lose, facing the fourth-place Warriors on a field built for Whistler's fast-paced play style. Yet the underdogs would emerge on top.
Kick-off
As has been typical of this season, the Wolves gave up size in the forward ranks and started slow, giving up a try in the opening set as Valley found space out wide from its 30-yard line. On the following drive, three back-to-back Whistler penalties piggy-backed the Warriors down the field, where they bludgeoned the Wolves' try line and eventually got through.
Shortly thereafter, Foley went down hard in a head-on collision with Warriors defenders, and the game went on hold for nearly 40 minutes as players waited for an ambulance to arrive.
The Wolves clung to momentum as the game restarted. Neil Irwin fed Nathan Fallquist, who shipped a quick ball to Tom Barlow. Quickly attracting two Warriors, Barlow put Josh Michalik into a two-on-one situation. Michalik, with winger Zac Jamison in tow, opted to attack himself, but the defender read the play nicely and halted the Wolves captain millimetres short of the line.
Following this, the Warriors forced a turnover on their 10-metre line. Barlow and Gus Murphy laboured on defence, lowering the boom multiple times to drive Valley back to its own goal line, but misfortune would bite Whistler yet again. A minor miscommunication in the defence left space for a Warriors winger to beat fullback Steven List in a two-on-one and plunge into the corner for the home team’s third score of the match.
The following 10 minutes saw the rivals trade blows in both attack and defence, with winger Sean Synman laying down noteworthy tackles on opponents twice his size. After a missed chance for Whistler, the Warriors found themselves under the Wolves' uprights again.
The Wolves' next chance came with Michalik and Jamison pressuring the defence, helping Irwin force an error to give the away team possession in Valley’s half. Jesse Goodwin settled the attack following the scrum and gave Ian Skuse the ability to show some razzle-dazzle with a double pump which faked out the Warriors centre. Kane Strachan quickly punched in Whistler’s first try of the game.
Down 22-6, the Wolves now faced their biggest deficit of the season so far. Each set went back and forth: Connor McDonald and Alex Poll stepped up for two drives and took the Wolves beyond midfield. Skuse found Barlow in space, and Barlow rumbled for 30 yards before being scythed down. Irwin found himself in the right place at the right time to clean it up, scoring and reducing the deficit to ten at halftime.
Second-half highlights
Both teams exchanged sets with valiant offensive drives at both ends of the field. A sliced kick gave the Warriors possession and territory, making their way to the 20-metre line by the fifth tackle. Next, another well-placed kick from the standoff saw the Warriors’ rangy centre collect the ball and scoot in for another try.
The Wolves again fell victim to Valley’s kicking game in the following set: another shrewd kick found List short of pace, forcing an uncommon knock-on from the sturdy fullback. The fumble gifted the Warriors a two-on-one stroll home, putting the game all but out of reach. Whistler’s defence dug furiously, but their hopes were tarnished further when the Warriors found space on the flank and ran to daylight, giving them their last points of the game.
Despite being on the brink of defeat, the Wolves did not go quietly. Pearce Perkins, Alex Mortlock and Conal Donnelly helped force a Warriors error and Michalik took over from there. He provided two tries: a solo effort from 20 yards out, and the culmination of one last Whistler push that made the box score a little more palatable at day’s end.
The Wolves still sit atop Rugby League British Columbia (RLBC) standings with six points and a monstrous plus-46 point differential. The Warriors climb into third with four points and a plus-four differential.
