Daryl Powell watched prop Robbie Mulhern lead from the front as Warrington downed the coach’s former club Castleford and said: “He was fantastic with his line speed.”
The 27-year-old Yorkshireman was signed from Hull KR ahead of last season, when he was mainly used from the bench by Steve Price.
But the Leeds product, who has represented both England and Ireland, has started both games this season.
And having played alongside Mike Cooper in the 22-20 win at Leeds, he took on extra responsibility as Cooper missed the Castleford clash because of illness, with Joe Philbin stepping into the 13 (hooker Daryl Clark was also absent following a head knock, with Danny Walker moving up).
Mulhern capped a bright display with his first try for the club in the 34-10 victory, and Powell said: “We played some really smart stuff and our middles were excellent defensively, which we asked them to do.
“Rob Mulhern led that – he was fantastic with his line speed – but all the pack were awesome.
“Jason Clark and Matty Davis were the same, and Danny Walker did 80 minutes.
“The pack were great and our halves (Gareth Widdop and George Williams) really inventive once we opened our game up.
“We found our way out of a difficult situation at Leeds without playing that well. This was a much better performance in lots of ways.”
After eight-and-a-half years at the Tigers, it was Powell’s first home match with Warrington.
“For me, it was a tough game, I’ve been asked millions of questions this week about my relationship with Castleford,” he added.
“The boys did an awesome job in lots of ways and that was really pleasing.”
Matty Ashton, George Williams, Josh Charnley (2) and ex-Castleford centre Peter Mata’utia also scored tries.
Former Wigan player Charnley, signed in 2018 after a spell in rugby union with Sale Sharks, passed the 250th career tries milestone in that was his 100th Warrington outing.
Powell is now preparing for Saturday’s trip to Toulouse.
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