Smith: Wire can’t afford to relax

Warrington coach Tony Smith says his side must not relax despite three successive wins lifting them off the bottom of the Super League table.

Easter weekend victories over Widnes and Huddersfield have moved the Wolves up to ninth place and finally got them going in 2017, as they look to reach the top eight before the end of the first phase of the season at round 23.

Smith said: “There’s such a long way to go. We need to keep climbing. We’re not suggesting for a second that we can relax and we are certainly not doing that.

“We’re not in a position at this stage to sit back or give ourselves too many pats on the back, but as I said earlier in the season, lots of teams go through tough periods.

“We’re having to scrounge at the moment and work hard and focus on grafting some wins, and we’ve managed to do it for the last three and a half games.

“We’ve got to keep doing that, we’ve got to remain focussed on just concentrate on the game in hand.

“It’s still early doors, but we’ve just got to make sure that we keep ticking over in the right direction.”

This weekend represents a significant opportunity for the Wolves to close in on the top eight, when they host Wakefield Trinity at the Halliwell Jones Stadium.

A missed Danny Brough conversion on the hooter meant the Wolves defeated Huddersfield on Monday, following on from a 19-10 win over Widnes on Thursday night.

Smith added: “It’s been busy and we’re pleased to have picked up the points we did over Easter.

“I won’t say either match was the prettiest, but I thought against Widnes we were gutsy defensively and only missed seven tackles in that game and that takes some doing.

“Against the Giants I thought we were scrappy in defence and we managed to hang on.”