2005 Warrington Wolves season

Warrington Wolves 2005 season
Super League X Rank	4th
Play-off result	Elimination play-offs
Challenge Cup	Round 4
2005 record	Wins: 18; draws: 0; losses: 11
Points scored	For: 792; against: 702
Team information
Chairman	Doug Hoyle
Head Coach	Paul Cullen
Captain	Lee Briers
Stadium	Halliwell Jones Stadium
Avg. attendance	11,003
High attendance	13,024 Leeds Rhinos, 12 September [1]
Low attendance	9,040 Huddersfield Giants, 20 March [2]
Top scorers
Tries	Henry Fa'afili (23)
Goals	Chris Bridge (57)
Points	Chris Bridge (147)
←  2004 List of seasons 2006  →

The 2005 season was the Warrington Wolves ' 20th consecutive season playing in England's top division of rugby league. During the season, they competed in Super League X and the 2005 Challenge Cup.

Preseason friendlies

Date and time	Versus	H/A	Venue	Result	Score	Tries	Goals	Attendance	Report
26 December 2004; 15:00	Widnes Vikings	A	Halton Stadium	L	6–12	Westwood	Hull (1/1)	6,957	[3]
2 January; 15:00	Barrow Raiders	H	Halliwell Jones Stadium	W	66–6	Clarke (2), Lima (2), Gaskell, Grose, Ashall, Kohe-Love, Riley	Hull (2/?), Ashall (6/?)	Unknown	[4]
16 January; 15:00	Whitehaven Warriors	H	Halliwell Jones Stadium	W	32–16	Clarke (3), Westwood, Berry, Lima	Briers (4/6)	2,816	[5]
30 January; 15:00 [a]	Salford City Reds	H	Halliwell Jones Stadium	W	26–24	Grose (2), Bracek, Fa'afili	[b]	4,323	[7]

Super League

Main article: 2005 Super League season

Warrington's 2005 season was marked by the landmark short-term signing on 31 July of Newcastle Knights scrum half Andrew Johns, considered at the time to be the greatest rugby league player in the world, for the last two rounds of the season and for any forthcoming play-off fixture. ^{[8] [9]} Johns, who made his Super League debut against the Leeds Rhinos on 12 September at home to a sold-out Halliwell Jones Stadium, ^[1] was signed by Warrington with the intention for the club to make it through to the Super League Grand Final for the first time in the club's history. ^[10] Warrington ultimately lost at home to Hull F.C. in the elimination play-offs, triggering Johns' return to Australia. ^[11]

Fixtures

Warrington Wolves' 2005 Super League fixtures were released on 2 December 2004, with seven being televised live on Sky Sports: ^{[12] [13]}

Date and time	Round	Versus	H/A	Venue	Result	Score	Tries	Goals	Attendance	TV	Pos.	Report
13 February; 15:00	Round 1	London Broncos	A	Griffin Park	L	24–28	Mn. Gleeson (2), Hilton, N. Wood, Westwood	Briers (2/5)	4,179	Not televised	9th	[14]
20 February; 15:00	Round 2	Leigh Centurions	H	Halliwell Jones Stadium	W	26–22	Clarke (2), Mn. Gleeson, N. Wood, Briers	Briers (3/5)	11,412	Not televised	9th	[15]
27 February; 15:15	Round 3	Hull F.C.	A	KC Stadium	L	10–32	Briers, Fa'afili	Briers (1/2)	10,169	Not televised	6th	[16]
4 March; 20:00	Round 4	St Helens	H	Halliwell Jones Stadium	L	16–18	Fa'afili, Appo	Briers (2/2 + 2 pen.)	12,098	Sky Sports 1 [12]	10th	[17] [18]
11 March; 20:00	Round 5	Leeds Rhinos	A	Headingley Rugby Stadium	L	6–38	Mn. Gleeson	Briers (1/1)	15,637	Not televised	10th	[19]
20 March; 20:00	Round 6	Huddersfield Giants	H	Halliwell Jones Stadium	W	14–6	Kohe-Love, Grose	Briers (2/2 + 1 pen.)	9,040	Not televised	10th	[20] [2]
25 March; 15:00	Round 7	Salford City Reds	A	The Willows	L	10–42	Fa'afili, Bridge	Briers (1/2)	6,004	Not televised	10th	[21]
29 March; 20:00	Round 8	Widnes Vikings	H	Halliwell Jones Stadium	W	44–12	Clarke (3), Fa'afili (2), Wainwright, Westwood, Mn. Gleeson, Briers	Briers (1/6 + 1 pen.), Bridge (2/3)	10,061	Sky Sports 2 [12]	10th	[22]
10 April; 15:00	Round 9	Bradford Bulls	H	Halliwell Jones Stadium	W	35–32	Grose (2), Mn. Gleeson (2), N. Wood, Fa'afili	Briers (4/6 + 1 pen.) Drop Goals Briers	10,654	Not televised	9th	[23]
17 April; 15:30	Round 10	Wakefield Trinity Wildcats	A	Belle Vue	W	40–28	Westwood (2), Briers (2), Wainwright, N. Wood, Clarke, Fa'afili	Briers (3/7), Bridge (1/1)	5,129	Not televised	9th	[24] [25]
24 April; 15:00	Round 11	Hull F.C.	H	Halliwell Jones Stadium	W	36–34	Fa'afili (3), Appo (2), Grose, Westwood	Appo (1/4), Bridge (3/3)	10,383	Not televised	7th	[26] [27]
29 April; 20:00	Round 12	St Helens	A	Knowsley Road	L	30–31	N. Wood (2) Kohe-Love, Westwood, Fa'afili	Appo (5/5)	12,666	Sky Sports 3 [12]	6th	[28] [29]
15 May; 15:00	Round 13	Wigan Warriors	H	Halliwell Jones Stadium	W	28–22	Lima (2), Wainwright, Swann, N. Wood	Bridge (4/5)	12,790	Not televised	6th	[30] [31]
22 May; 15:00	Round 14	Bradford Bulls	A	Odsal Stadium	W	44–24	Bridge (2), Noone, Kohe-Love, P. Wood, Lima, Fa'afili	Bridge (7/7 + 1 pen.)	14,428	Not televised	5th	[32]
29 May; 15:00	Round 15	Wakefield Trinity Wildcats	H	Halliwell Jones Stadium	W	38–30	Swann (2), N. Wood (2), Mn. Gleeson, Fa'afili, Grose	Bridge (4/7 + 1 pen.)	10,113	Not televised	4th	[33]
5 June; 15:00	Round 16	Huddersfield Giants	A	Kirklees Stadium	W	24–22	Clarke, Fa'afili, Westwood, Bridge	Bridge (3/4 + 1 pen.)	6,162	Not televised	3rd	[34]
12 June; 15:00	Round 17	Leigh Centurions	A	Hilton Park	W	42–7	Fa'afili (2), Westwood, Grose, N. Wood, Clarke, Bridge, Appo	Bridge (5/8)	7,249	Not televised	5th	[35] [36]
19 June; 15:00	Round 18	Salford City Reds	H	Halliwell Jones Stadium	W	48–14	Westwood (3), Swann (2), Kohe-Love (2), Mn. Gleeson (2)	Bridge (4/6), Briers (2/3)	10,925	Not televised	4th	[37]
3 July; 15:00	Round 19	Widnes Vikings	A	Halton Stadium	W	25–24	Clarke, Mn. Gleeson, Lima, N. Wood, Appo	Noone (2/5) Drop Goals Briers	9,825	Not televised	3rd	[38]
9 July; 18:05	Round 20	Wigan Warriors	A	JJB Stadium	L	17–36	Grose, Kohe-Love, Bridge	Bridge (2/3) Drop Goals Bridge	14,162	Sky Sports 1 [12]	3rd	[39]
17 July; 15:00	Round 21	London Broncos	H	Halliwell Jones Stadium	W	26–14	Fa'afili (2), Mn. Gleeson, Gaskell, Grose	Bridge (3/5)	10,146	Not televised	4th	[40]
23 July; 18:05	Round 22	Leeds Rhinos	H	Halliwell Jones Stadium	L	22–46	Fa'afili (2), Grose, Swann	Appo (1/3 + 1 pen.), Briers (1/1)	11,036	Sky Sports 3 [12]	3rd	[41]
7 August; 15;00	Round 23	St Helens	H	Halliwell Jones Stadium	L	10–30	Mn. Gleeson, P. Wood	Bridge (1/2)	12,762	Not televised	4th	[42]
14 August; 15:00	Round 24	Huddersfield Giants	A	Kirklees Stadium	L	22–38	Mn. Gleeson, Swann, N. Wood, Bridge	Bridge (3/4)	4,077	Not televised	4th	[43]
21 August; 15:00	Round 25	Widnes Vikings	A	Halton Stadium	W	60–16	Kohe-Love (2), N. Wood, Westwood, Lima, Mk. Gleeson, Grose, Fa'afili, Mn. Gleeson, P. Wood, Riley	Bridge (8/11)	7,878	Not televised	5th	[44]
4 September; 15:00	Round 26	Salford City Reds	H	Halliwell Jones Stadium	W	32–22	Westwood, N. Wood, Mn. Gleeson, Bridge, Briers, Leikvoll	Bridge (4/6)	9,169	Not televised	5th	[45]
12 September; 18:00	Round 27	Leeds Rhinos	H	Halliwell Jones Stadium	W	33–16	Fa'afili, Mn. Gleeson, Grose, Swann, N. Wood	Johns (5/6 + 1 pen.) Drop Goals Johns	13,024 [1]	Sky Sports 1 [13]	4th	[46]
16 September; 20:00	Round 28	Hull F.C.	A	KC Stadium	W	30–16	Swann (2), Kohe-Love (2), Grose	Johns (5/5)	15,763	Sky Sports 2 [13]	4th	[47]

Table

This section is an excerpt from 2005 Super League season § Table.[ edit ]

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	St Helens (L)	28	23	1	4	1028	537	+491	47	Semi Final
2	Leeds Rhinos	28	22	0	6	1152	505	+647	44
3	Bradford Bulls (C)	28	18	1	9	1038	684	+354	37	Elimination Semi Final
4	Warrington Wolves	28	18	0	10	792	702	+90	36
5	Hull F.C.	28	15	2	11	756	670	+86	32
6	London Broncos	28	13	2	13	800	718	+82	28
7	Wigan Warriors	28	14	0	14	698	718	−20	28
8	Huddersfield Giants	28	12	0	16	742	791	−49	24
9	Salford City Reds	28	11	0	17	549	732	−183	22
10	Wakefield Trinity Wildcats	28	10	0	18	716	999	−283	20
11	Widnes Vikings (R)	28	6	1	21	598	1048	−450	13	Relegation to National League One
12	Leigh Centurions (R)	28	2	1	25	445	1210	−765	5

Source: Rugby League Project
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Points difference; 3) Number of points scored;
(C) Champions; (L) League Leaders' Shield Winners; (R) Relegated

Play-offs

Date and time	Round	Versus	H/A	Venue	Result	Score	Tries	Goals	Attendance	TV	Report
24 September; 18:05	Elimination playoffs	Hull F.C.	H	Halliwell Jones Stadium	L	6–40	Johns	Johns (1/1)	12,243	Sky Sports 1	[11]

Challenge Cup

Main article: 2005 Challenge Cup

Date and time	Round	Versus	H/A	Venue	Result	Score	Tries	Goals	Attendance	TV	Report
2 April; 14:35	Round 4	Leeds Rhinos	A	Headingley Rugby Stadium	L	22–26	N. Wood (2), Clarke, Westwood	Bridge (3/4)	8,215	BBC Two [48]	[49] [50]

Transfers

Gains

Player	Club	Contract	Date
Martin Gleeson	St Helens	4 years	July 2004 [51]
Toa Kohe-Love	Bradford Bulls	1 year	September 2004 [52]
Logan Swann	Bradford Bulls	2 years	September 2004 [52]
Simon Grix	Halifax R.L.F.C.	2 years	September 2004 [53]
Andy Bracek	St Helens	2 years	November 2004 [54]
Nick Royle [c]	Widnes Vikings	1 year	2005 [56]
Chris Bridge	Bradford Bulls	3 years	January 2005 [57]

Loans in

Player	Club	Loan period	Date
Andrew Johns	Newcastle Knights	End of season	July 2005 [8] [9]
Scott Grix	XIII Limouxin	One month	August 2005 [13]

Losses

Player	Club	Contract	Date
Darren Burns	N/A	Retirement	September 2004 [56]
Mike Forshaw	N/A	Retirement	September 2004 [56]
Jérôme Guisset	CA Brive [d]		September 2004 [56]
Ian Sibbit	Salford City Reds	2 years	September 2004 [59]
Richard Varkulis	Rochdale Hornets		November 2004 [60]
John Wilshere	Leigh Centurions	1 year	December 2004 [61]
Gary Hulse	Widnes Vikings		2005 [56]
Nick Owen	Leigh Centurions		2005 [56]

Squad

2005 Warrington Wolves squad

First team squad								Coaching staff
1 Brent Grose – FB 2 Henry Fa'afili – WG 3 Martin Gleeson – CE 4 Toa Kohe-Love – WG 5 Dean Gaskell – WG 6 Lee Briers (c) – SH (gk) 7 Nathan Wood – SH 8 Chris Leikvoll – PR 9 Jon Clarke – HK 10 Mark Hilton – PR 11 Logan Swann – SR		12 Mike Wainwright – SR 13 Paul Noone – SR, LF 14 Mark Gleeson – HK 15 Ben Westwood – CE 16 Paul Wood – SR, LF 17 Danny Lima – PR 18 Graham Appo – SO (gk) 19 Darryl Cardiss – FB 20 Warren Stevens – SR, PR 21 Simon Grix – LF 22 Steve Pickersgill – SR		23 Andy Bracek – WG, CE 24 Phil Berry – WG 25 Chris Bridge – SO, CE (gk) 28 Chris Riley – WG 31 Andrew Johns – SH (gk)				Head coach Paul Cullen Assistant coach Paul Darbyshire Legend: (c) Captain(s) (vc) Vice-captain(s) = suspended = injured (gk) = Goal kicker Updated: 12 March 2005 Source(s): First team profiles, Club info

Notes

1. Proceeds of match were donated to former player and Wigan Warriors coach Mike Gregory, who was suffering from progressive muscular atrophy. ^[6]
2. Conversions or penalties not recorded.
3. Royle did not make a single first-team appearance during the 2005 season, following no appearances with Widnes in 2004. ^[55]
4. Guisset switched back to rugby league by signing with Wigan Warriors in February 2005 after an unsuccessful season with Brive. ^[58]

References

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2. "Just rewards for 'absolutely outstanding' defence". Warrington Guardian. 25 March 2005. Retrieved 16 December 2025.
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