Daryl Powell happy with where Warrington are at but wants Magic response

Daryl Powell says he is happy with where Warrington are at, but wants to see a response from his players after their defeat at Leigh.

The Wolves currently sit top of the Super League table after 13 rounds – two points above Wigan and Catalans – having won 10 games so far.

However, they fell to a 30-12 defeat against the impressive Leigh on Friday night and Powell wants to see his players respond positively in Sunday’s clash with Hull at Magic Weekend.

Speaking after their loss to Leigh, Powell said: “I was just speaking with the conditioners, if at the halfway point you are two points in front in the comp, then you’re going to take it.

“But we aren’t going to be two points in front for much longer if we keep doing what we are doing at the moment.

“We will get reeled in and we need to change our mindset a bit on what we are doing and practice better and that’ll lead in to better performances.

“We’ll respond next Sunday, for sure, it’s important that we do.”

Daryl Powell on what his side need to do better

Leigh led 14-0 after 24 minutes thanks to tries from Gareth O’Brien and Tom Briscoe as well as three goals from Ben Reynolds.

Warrington pulled one back in the 27th minute as Daryl Clark made a break from inside his own half to assist the supporting George Williams who scored under the posts.

Leigh extended their lead though when O’Brien got his second by showing good support play for an Edwin Ipape break.

Warrington hit back just before the break when Joe Philbin crashed over from close range. The Leopards led 20-12 at half-time.

The Wolves put in an improved second half showing, but the Leopards didn’t take their foot off the gas in the second half by posting further tries through Charnley and Ben Reynolds to wrap up an impressive 30-12 win.

Powell said: “I don’t know why it takes half-time to have that defensive intent that we showed straight after but it did which is disappointing.

“We have to find a different motivation to be doing that on a regular basis because that’s what rugby league is and that’s what a champion team does I believe.”

Warrington will aim to return to winning ways when they face Hull FC at St James’ Park on Sunday, 4:30pm kick-off.

READ NEXT: Warrington defeat ‘has been coming’ as Daryl Powell credits Leigh