Agar rues Wakefield off day as team are punished

Australian Robertson took his season tally to six with a try in each half as the Londoners romped to just their second victory of the season.

For the Wildcats it was a disappointing display as they remain stuck on four points.

Wakefield coach Richard Agar was not a happy man after the defeat and suggested that too many of his players had endured an off day.

“By a long way that was our worst performance of the season,” he said. “We know as a team that if we have too many players off colour then it does not happen for us, and we had a lot off colour today.

“We lacked any punch and London were able to roll us down the pitch too easily.

“I thought we looked really soft in the second half.

“We have to aim a lot higher than that, and we will need to rediscover our form very quickly.”

Rob Powell once again rang the changes as the Londoners looked to get back to winning ways, Robertson replacing Luke Dorn at full-back.

Shane Rodney also returned to the forwards after missing the last six games with injury.

For the Wildcats, recent loan signing Paul Sykes went straight into the centres.

The hosts made the brighter start, and took the lead with their first foray into Wakefield territory, Tony Clubb muscling over after Craig Gower’s kick caused chaos in the Wildcats defence.

Minutes later the men from the capital pushed the lead on when Michael Witt booted a penalty after the visitors had transgressed near their own line.

The Broncos, chastened by last weekend’s slump at Widnes, seemed up for the challenge, with some big hits stopping the Wildcats getting any momentum.

And things got even better for London on 15 minutes, Dan Sarginson turning on the gas to outstrip the Wakefield defence and cross in the corner.

The away side were struggling to get anything going, with the departure of full-back Richie Mathers with a gashed forehead symptomatic of their efforts.

The game went into a lull after that, with both sides guilty of basic handling errors.

Ali Lauitiiti did go close to barging his way over and getting the Wildcats back into the contest just before the half-hour mark, only for strong London defence to hold him up.

And that proved crucial minutes later, when Kieran Dixon claimed his first try for the Broncos when he leaped highest to claim Chad Randall’s tempting kick.

To their credit Wakefield were trying to throw the ball around, but were getting short change from the home defence.

That difference in finishing was highlighted again on 34 minutes as London stretched further ahead, Robertson pouncing on Gower’s clever kick to surge over.

It was Robertson again on 44 minutes, weaving over the line after Ben Cockayne had spilled Gower’s towering kick as the romp continued.

At times Wakefield looked clueless, far removed from the side that dumped the Catalans last week.

But the Broncos did not care one jot, Liam Colbon adding a sixth try when he crashed over in the corner after the hosts profited from Randall’s charged-down kick.

The errors kept coming from the Wildcats, the next from Peter Fox when he fumbled into touch when looking to dart over at the flag.

And although the hosts dropped the pace themselves, they had plenty in the tank to keep Wakefield at arm’s length.

And the Londoners were even to add a further late score, replacement Dorn racing 80 metres to touch down after another Wildcats attack broke down.

London coach Powell is now calling on his Broncos squad to make the Stoop something of a fortress.

“We have played well in every home game this season and it was another strong performance today against Wakefield.

“We have to make this place very difficult for other teams to come to and I think we are.

“The key for us will be to keep this home form going and then try and produce on the road.”

The Broncos scored more than 30 points for the fifth time this campaign as six different players notched tries.

But the London coach was just as, if not more, pleased with keeping Wakefield scoreless.

Powell added: “I think it was a case of attitude. It was pleasing to see that after 65 or 70 minutes we were still working hard to keep them out.

“We know we have the talent here, but that talent counts for nothing if you do not have the right attitude.”

Michael Robertson was the two-try hero for the hosts, notching in each half as the Londoners eased to a much-needed triumph.

Tony Clubb, Dan Sarginson and Kieran Dixon also grabbed first-half tries. And any thoughts of a Wildcats revival were quickly snuffed out with further second-half scores from Liam Colbon and Luke Dorn.