STEVE Price was pleased with how his Warrington Wolves side stepped up a gear in the second half of today’s win over Hull Kingston Rovers.

Leading 12-4 at the break after a tight and scrappy first half, The Wire blew the Robins away after the break to run out 40-10 victors.

Having been caught cold with a short kick-off which led to Ben Crooks opening the scoring inside a minute, Price’s men recovered their composure to ensure their first game since beating Rovers’ city rivals Hull FC on March 12 yielded two points.

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“I'm pleased with the result after no game for 149 and two weeks of training,” Price said.

“There were a lot of strong performances.

"We knew they were going to chance their arm a bit but after 15 minutes, we found a bit of momentum and ruck speed.

“The combination of Gareth (Widdop), Daz (Clark) and Blake (Austin) was building up some momentum pre-Covid but as time went on today, I thought they came up with some really good stuff.

“We started to play more direct and at speed.

“We scored some really good tries off the back of generating ruck speed. That’s credit to the middles and the edges had some good carries too.”

Anthony Gelling was caught out for Crooks’ try and was sin-binned for a dangerous tackle shortly afterwards but was one of Wolves’ try-scorers.

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Anthony Gelling scores. Picture by Mike Boden

Tom Lineham crossed twice with Sitaleki Akauola, Josh Charnley, Gareth Widdop and Stefan Ratchford also on the scoresheet.

It was The Wire’s first game under the new rules of “six again” for ruck infringements and no scrums, but Price was pleased with how his side adapted.

“I think we only gave up two more six agains and Hull KR had one,” he said.

“Whether there will be more in the weeks to come, time will tell but there was a lot more ball in play.

“We did expect things to be a little bit quicker than they have been in the past, which is what we want.

“We don’t just want it to be a war of attrition, we want to play a bit of rugby also.

“I thought Gells was really strong today.

“He had a bit of a slow start but once he got over that, he carried the ball really strong and made some good reads also.

“It was a good first-up game for us and a good pass mark.”

Ben Murdoch-Masila was a surprise absentee having started all seven Super League games thus far and Price outlined why he missed out.

“Ben was a tough one. He had a slight roll of the ankle not so long ago,” he said.

“He was close but hopefully he will be okay to come back next week.

“We’ve come out pretty healthy. It was a fast game and the boys really enjoyed it.”