STEFAN Ratchford has revealed the secret to his recent good form from the kicking tee – not practicing.

After Bryson Goodwin began the season as The Wire’s first-choice goal-kicker, Ratchford has taken over in recent weeks to good effect.

He has missed only four of his 25 attempts at goal in 2018, giving him a success rate of 84 per cent, but admits he has not been working on his tee kicking in training.

The full-back says, as long as he continues to hit the target, he will not be practicing any time soon.

“Normally, I’m quite particular with my practicing and routines but I’ve gone the other way,” he said.

“I think in one of the games, I ended up kicking because Bryson missed a couple.

“I hadn’t practiced, but I kicked quite well and have taken it on since.

“I’ve still not been really practicing, but I’m still striking them pretty good.

“Until I start missing, which hopefully won’t be anytime soon, I’ll be sticking with this routine.

“Not practicing seems to be going quite well at the moment.

“When they start going wide, I’ll get the practice boots back on.”

Ratchford is also among the leading players in Super League for try assists, with nine so far this campaign.

His partnership with half-backs Kevin Brown and Tyrone Roberts appears to be burgeoning and the 29-year-old says the environment in training is helping with that.

“Personally and as a team, I think we’re improving week by week,” he said.

“There’s a buzz about the place at the minute. The intensity has gone up in training.

“We’ve had a pretty consistent side in these past few weeks, so the lads who haven’t been getting in have been upping the ante.

“That’s led to the boys who are in the team doing the same.

“The sessions have been shorter lately, but the intensity has been higher and it’s been showing on game day.”

Wire head coach Steve Price will give a few of his first-team players a rest for Saturday’s Challenge Cup clash with Bradford Bulls, but Ratchford is likely to keep his place at full-back.

Wolves will be heavy favourites to progress against the League One side, but the England international says the must be prepared for John Kear’s men treating the game as “their cup final.”

“The Challenge Cup has a lot of prestige and history, plus it’s a competition we’re well affiliated with at this club in recent years,” he said.

“It’s cut-throat. You get one crack at it and that’s it.

“You’d probably have to say this is Bradford’s final, looking at where both teams are.

“They will turn up with nothing to lose and everything to gain.

“We’ll have to be fully switched on and improve on some of the stuff we’ve dished up in defensively.

“John Kear is a very smart coach tactically. He’ll be trying all the trick plays to get them a leg up in the game.

“We have to be 100 per cent focused to get the job done.”