King rules in runaway win

The Australian scores hat-trick for Wolves and the defeat for the Wildcats all but ends their hopes of claiming a place in the play-offs.

Matt King claimed a clinical hat-trick as Challenge Cup finalists Warrington kept their hopes of a top-two finish alive and all but ended Wakefield's Super League play-off prospects with a 36-18 win. The classy Australian centre, 29, scored twice within the space of seven first-half minutes and completed his treble shortly after the break as the Wolves condemned John Kear's struggling side to a fourth straight defeat. It was a bitterly disappointing afternoon for Jason Demetriou, the veteran Wildcats forward who made his final home appearance for the club after six years at Belle Vue. The 35-year-old Australian will leave at the end of the season after not being offered a new deal. Meanwhile, Justin Morgan, the Hull Kingston Rovers coach saluted scrum-half Michael Dobson after his side's 44-18 romp at struggling Salford. Dobson scored 16 points with a try and six goals, while Clint Newton and Shaun Briscoe each collected two tries. Morgan said: "Dobbo did a great job for us even though he won't be pleased with some parts of his display because of the high standards he sets. "He and Scott Murrell made some good decisions with their kick selection. "Michael has matured hugely over the last two or three years and some people don't realise the stress placed on scrum-halves. His organisational skills impressed me." Shaun McRae, the Salford coach, whose side were hammered 60-16 in their last match at Crusaders a fortnight ago, said: "It was better than our last performance but still nowhere near good enough. "We came up against a highly motivated team who want to do well in the play-offs. "We lacked a cutting edge when we needed it and lost energy in the hot conditions when we did not have the ball for long spells." In the NRL yesterday, Manu Vatuvei, the hulking New Zealand Warriors winger effectively put to bed the Newcastle Knights' 2010 season with a powerhouse three-try performance in his side's 22-10 win at Mt Smart Stadium. In a much-vaunted showdown against the prolific Akuila Uate, his Knights opposite, Vatuvei was the knockout winner, scoring a treble but also running down the Newcastle flyer to save a try as the match remained evenly poised. "I haven't seen him run that quick in a while," Ivan Cleary, the Warriors coach, said of Vatuvei's effort in hunting down Uate. "He's pretty competitive, Manu. When he [Uate] got away like that, he was pretty determined to run him down. He's just a great all-round athlete." In the other NRL games, the Melbourne Storm knocked over the South Sydney Rabbitohs and possibly their hopes of an finals berth with a thrilling 18-16 win. Two tries by Souths winger Nathan Merritt, the second in the 72nd minute was the 100th of his career, set up a thrilling finale as the visitors tried to claw their way into the lead but time ran out before they could find the points. The loss leaves Rabbitohs in ninth on the ladder, with only 10 points separating 12 teams. West Tigers, in third, mauled the fourth-placed Penrith Panthers 43-18. * Agencies