Some were predicting a Wembley hangover but instead Warrington provided a Wembley rebound on Thursday night.
The Wolves made the point that they weren’t going to let the disappointment of losing to Catalans Dragons in the Challenge Cup Final drag them down in emphatic style by annihilating Hull 80-10 at the Halliwell Jones Stadium.
Steve Price’s men ran in fourteen tries with centre Bryson Goodwin bagging five of them and scrum-half Tyrone Roberts helping himself to a try and twelve goals.
Before the game, Hull coach Lee Radford said he’d prefer to face a Warrington side who’d won at Wembley five days earlier and indulged in a bit of over-celebration.
As it turned out, the Wolves players could have pub-crawled around Stockton Heath in the afternoon, had ten pints each, and still turned up and put the cleaners through the Airlie Birds in the evening.
Hull’s performance was a shocker but you can only beat what’s in front of you and Warrington were committed and determined from the off.
Steve Price’s men had no problem coming out of yardage, winning the contact battle at almost every tackle, and they used that platform to play some clinical attacking rugby.
That was particularly so in a first half which saw Warrington take a 34-6 lead into the interval.
As it happens, they scored even more points after the break in a second half which included a 15-minute spell when they went off the boil. If it wasn’t for that period, there could have been a century on the board.
By the end, the Wolves were running in tries at will, with the men from east Yorkshire having well and truly raised the white flag.
Coach Price wasn’t happy that his side were given the Thursday game after playing at Wembley on Saturday but he was delighted with the way his team knuckled down to their task.
He said “It was a great response from the playing group. We had some brutal discussions throughout the week with the review from last week’s disappointment and it’s a credit to the playing group as to how they rebounded tonight.
“I thought that the first 40 minutes was an outstanding display of rugby and I am really proud of the boys.
“There was a bit of a block there when Hull got a bit of an advantage in the second half but we clawed it back and scored eighty points with some fantastic tries.
“I thought the execution and the display from the group was first class tonight.
“I’m a happy man. I thought across the board they all contributed – Bryson with five tries – but I was pleased with all seventeen players.
“We had a few blokes carrying injuries into the game but they all put their hands up to play when we came back into training.
“We had four or five in doubt but it’s a credit to the playing group that they care about the club and their teammates which was typified in the performance today.
“It’s been gut wrenching. We were all hurting from last week’s performance as it wasn’t a Warrington Wolves’ performance but we can’t take it back now.
“What we could control was tonight and our performance and our attitude was first class. It shows we have a football team here.
“I wasn’t too happy with the short turnaround when it first came out but after dishing up what we did last week there was no better way to get on the horse than with a positive display like that.”
A win over Huddersfield Giants next Friday will guarantee a Top 4 Play-Off spot for the Wolves.
