Warrington Wolves coach Tony Smith has insisted that his side have to be wary of a wounded Huddersfield side on Saturday: and says he’s expecting a firm response from his former club.
The Wolves were beaten at the John Smith’s Stadium earlier in the year, and he believes they will be smarting after a tough public dressing-down from new coach Rick Stone in the aftermath of their defeat to St Helens last Sunday.
“We’ve already been turned over once by Huddersfield this year,” he told the Warrington Guardian.
“Their new coach has been pretty critical of them in the media this week so you’d expect a response from their players in the way they perform.”
However, Smith believes a game against a Huddersfield side keen to impress new coach Stone will provide his own troops with a perfect test ahead of the Super 8s: as well as next weekend’s Challenge Cup semi-final against Wakefield.
“We’re expecting a tough game but we’re happy to have one of those and we want to impose our own tough game on them,” Smith said.
“They will be a tough nut to crack but these are the sort of games you want leading into the Super 8s – you want tough games.”