Wolves defeat puts spotlight on Cullen

The Wolves produced a spirited display which included a hat-trick from wing Henry Fa'afili but their defensive frailties were again brutally exposed by the rampant Rhinos.

This was Warrington's seventh defeat in eight engage Super League encounters and places further question marks over Cullen's future. His contract is up at the end of the season and no new deal has been offered, while Ellery Hanley and John Lang have both been touted as potential replacements.

Yet despite being beaten once again, Cullen's men actually deserved some credit for their performance which saw them run in five tries.

Indeed, they made a big contribution to an absorbing encounter and opened the scoring through Fa'afili in the third minute. The New Zealander collected a pass from Ben Westwood and produced a delightful dummy which split Danny McGuire and Keith Senior and allowed him to scamper clear for a fine individual score.

Inspirational Wolves skipper Lee Briers quickly exerted his authority on proceedings with a series of probing kicks, but Leeds began to build up a head of steam. And their first score arrived in the 15th minute when Rob Burrow combined with McGuire to send Senior over the line for his first try.

Three minutes later the Rhinos breached Warrington's line again as a piece of magic from McGuire outfoxed two opponents and allowed Webb to scamper clear for his 14th try of an increasingly productive season. But the visitors continued to probe and Jon Clarke's long kick downfield was nudged forward and grounded by 19-year-old prospect Kevin Penney.

The score was awarded after a review from video referee Ian Smith, but Warrington's line soon began to lead a charmed life. Indeed, it came as no surprise when Senior barged his way over on the half-hour mark to complete his brace, again after review from Smith.

McGuire looked to have all but secured victory for Leeds four minutes before the break when he broke clear for his side's fourth try - but Fa'afili's second on the stroke of half-time gave Warrington a perfect tonic.

Yet it was Leeds who began the brighter after the restart and a simple sequence of passing saw Burrow and McGuire work the ball out wide to Clinton Toopi, who grounded in the right corner and despite Fa'afili completing his hat-trick the Rhinos cruised to victory to leave the visitors in the midst of a relegation scrap.