WARRINGTON WOLVES delivered a masterclass against the Leeds Rhinos at the Halliwell Jones Stadium tonight with a 42-10 thrashing.
The Wolves were dominant from the first minute, running into a 30-0 half-time lead and head coach Daryl Powell waxed lyrical about a superb result.
“The first-half was as dominant a performance as you’ll see,” Powell said on Sky Sports after the game.
“I thought we controlled the whole 40 minutes. Defensively what we worked on, the boys were class and with the ball we were measured and patient but our middle unit was phenomenal.
“It was a great start, and we had to move a couple of players out of position when we lost Matty Nicholson.
“We had to shuffle the back-row, but there was a bit of pressure on that tonight and we handled it really well.”
Powell also spoke about the big middle unit, especially Paul Vaughan.
“I thought Vaughany (Paul Vaughan) was class, over 20 carries for a middle, shows he’s got a great engine, and you’d be hard to look beyond him.
“We’ve got some big boys out there who can do some damage. I thought we were outstanding.
“I think the boys will enjoy that. We’ve got a good opportunity, it’s an excellent start to the season. We handled the pressure well.”
Meanwhile, opposite boss Rohan Smith was “surprised” at the result.
“We missed the jump early and Warrington were very good,” Smith said on Sky Sports post-match. “We couldn’t find a way to turn them away and keep the score reasonable to try and then build pressure the other way.
“I thought we definitely struggled to stop their go forward at times. I thought George Williams and the rest of the spine controlled the game were clinical.
“Some of the 50/50s went their way because they fought harder. I did like a proportion of that second-half when we came back.
“I’m surprised (at the result) but that’s the nature of professional sport. That’s just how we played today and next week is a new week.
“We’ve got to attend to our own things and address things where we need to be stronger.”