Warrington coach Tony Smith watched his side’s winless run at the start of the new season on Thursday night – but promised that the Wolves will be stronger for the tough experiences their opening month has provided.
The Wolves remain the only side in Super League without a point to their name after losing 38-16 to Wigan on Thursday night – but Smith said that when his side emerge through this poor run of form, they will be better for it.
“It’s how you handle these slumps and how you toughen up after them,” he said.
“We’ll look back and this will have done us great. In the long run when you ride through these kinds of things, you get more determined because times like these. We’ll be glad we went through it and did it the way we did.”
However, Smith conceded that the Wolves are their own worst enemies at the moment.
“The damage was done in that first half,” he said.
“Some of the errors we came up with and penalties we conceded, we were 42 plays behind them at half-time. That’s seven sets of extra work you’ve got to do and Wigan are a good enough team to put points on you.
“We’re hurting with the way we’re playing and where we’re sat on the table – and it has an effect on the way we’re playing. We’ve got to work through it – it hurts and I know our supporters are feeling hurt.”
Smith brought in youngster Harvey Livett for his first senior start at the expense of Declan Patton – who the Wolves boss confirmed was dropped.
“Dec has been coming up with okay games but we need more than okay,” he said. “Dec has been an example of some of what we’re doing wrong like kicking balls out on the full from the kick-off or kicking it dead on last tackle.”