Warrington will take confidence from St Helens defeat says head coach

Warrington head coach Daryl Powell believes his side will take great confidence from their close 12-10 defeat to reigning champions St Helens.

The hosts opened the scoring through Gareth Widdop but trailed 12-4 at half-time with tries from Alex Walmsley and Tommy Makinson.

However, the Wolves defended heroically to keep the champions scoreless in the second half and had their chances to snatch what would have been a memorable victory.

Despite the end result, Powell was encouraged by his side’s best performance so far.

Warrington boss pleased with effort in defeat

“I thought we were class tonight,” Powell said. “I think we would beat most, if not all the other teams, tonight.

“We had an opportunity at the end to win the game but St Helens are a quality team and the confidence we will get from going toe to toe with them is significant.

“We get so much from that. It’s huge in terms of what we are able to do in the second half of the season. To keep them scoreless in the second half is quite an effort.

“We’ve shown what we can do when everybody is aligned, particularly defensively.

“It’s a massive step forward. We need to replicate that on a consistent basis and develop our game and have more composure in attacking positions.”

Warrington 10-12 St Helens: Saints extend lead at top of Super League

Kristian Woolf praises opposition

St Helens boss Kristian Woolf praised the opposition following the clash at the Halliwell Jones Stadium. The victory saw Saints claim their 11th win of the season so far, extending their lead at the top of the Super League table.

“It was a good game of footy,” Woolf said. “I thought Warrington were really good, they challenged us in different ways.

“I didn’t think we were quite at our best. We made some uncharacteristic errors. But the effort was outstanding and, when we were under pressure, we just turned up for each other, that’s what this group does.

“Sometimes you get a little bit ugly with the ball and sometimes you don’t quite get things right. That was certainly us tonight.

“I was really happy with how we handled that last 10 minutes. It was a bit nerve-wracking but I knew what sort of effort and scramble we would come up (with).”

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