Smith: There’s nothing much between us

Tony Smith believes Warrington are now on a par with the majority of their Super League rivals.

Wolves lie eighth in the table ahead of Friday’s trip to fourth-placed Leeds, but Smith says his team are capable of mixing it with the Rhinos.

“I don’t think there’s a lot between most of the teams – only Cas are probably the stand out,” said Smith. “The rest of us it’s a fine line whether you win or lose games at the moment.

“Leeds are a dangerous team – they can punish you for your mistakes. I think they’re a bit vulnerable themselves in some respects, but they’re certainly capable if you don’t perform against them.

“We’re looking forward to the challenge – we had a good game against them earlier in the season. It was close for most of it and we’re expecting a good tough game again.”

While Wolves picked up a point at Magic Weekend courtesy of a 24-24 draw with Wigan, Leeds fell 29-18 against Castleford.

The Tigers enjoyed plenty of success down Leeds’ right channel, but Smith doesn’t believe the Yorkshire outfit are specifically weak in that area.

“We looked at them the week before and Catalan went down the left channel and had success down there, so different teams play to different strengths and weaknesses,” he added.

“It depends what you’ve got and what they’ve got on a particular week, but they’ll work hard just like my boys will.

“There’s some weeks where we’re a bit vulnerable so you go and fix it all up and then the other side or the middle becomes vulnerable. It’s just a constant cycle that you’ve got to keep working on.

“Leeds have got some dangerous players and on their day they can rival anybody. When they’re not on their day they can be beaten, so we’re hoping that they perform well but we perform better.”