GEORGE WILLIAMS believes that Warrington Wolves’ defence epitomises their transformation this season.
The Wire finished in eleventh place in Super League after a dismal 2022 but have started this year in very different fashion.
They hammered Leeds Rhinos in the opening round, and backed that up last Friday with a 26-16 victory at Huddersfield Giants.
“To come here and win is a massive statement,” England star Williams told League Express.
“We’re not getting too carried away, it’s only two wins, but it’s a step in the right direction.
“(Against Leeds) we probably showed how good we are with the ball and (against Huddersfield) we showed just how good we are defensively.
“At the back end of the first half they had three or four sets on our line and we kept them out. That was a game changer. We got some belief and confidence out of that.
“That’s where we struggled last year; we couldn’t defend our own line, and tonight we showed we can.
“We’re a team that’s working hard for each other. We didn’t get everything right and there were some things that we want to improve, but we definitely believe in our defence this year, whereas last year we didn’t.”
Williams has produced two good individual performances, playing alongside new signing Josh Drinkwater in the halves.
Wolves coach Daryl Powell brought Drinkwater to the Halliwell Jones Stadium to give Williams more freedom and it appears to be working well.
“We’ve only had three games together, including the pre-season friendly, but we’re working on (our partnership) every single day,” said Williams.
“It’s hours of video, hours of chats. We’re happy with how we’re going so far.”
Powell, whose forward Matty Nicholson is set to spend the next month on the sidelines with a shoulder injury, said of his halfbacks: “There’s a good balance there between Drinky and George. Drinky has great control, his kicking game (against Huddersfield) was phenomenal, and George is just being George.
“That’s the thing, you need to allow George to do what he does because he’s an instinctive, natural Rugby League player.”
