Richie Mathers has his sights set on the ultimate reward with Warrington Wolves (From Warrington Guardian)

Richie Mathers has his sights set on the ultimate reward with Warrington Wolves

6:30am Friday 10th July 2009

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ALTHOUGH he has reinvigorated his career and rediscovered his enjoyment of rugby at Warrington, Richie Mathers is still far from satisfied.

The 25-year-old full back has quickly put a nightmare two years behind him since arriving at The Halliwell Jones Stadium, becoming a key figure for Tony Smith’s ever-improving Wolves.

Plagued by injuries and poor form during spells with Gold Coast Titans and Wigan, only now is the former England international beginning to realise the superb potential he showed under Smith at Leeds Rhinos.

But Mathers does not feel vinidcated by the improvement in his performances, that kind of satisfaction will only come with a return to the peak of the club game.

After winning both the Super League title and World Club Challenge with Rhinos, he knows exactly what it takes to be successful and believes Wolves are capable of reaching similar heights.

He said: “It’s great to be involved with this team.

“Throughout the last couple of years, I never stopped working hard and I had it in my mind that if I stuck at it, my luck would change some time.

“I found out it can sometimes take quite a long time and the harder you try, the worse it gets.

“But now I’m playing with a great set of lads under a good coach and it’s great to be part of that.

“I have worked hard and everybody does but I don’t see my current form as a reward. My reward and the team’s reward will be at the end of the season.

“I’m playing good rugby with a team that’s playing well at the minute but it’s all about the bigger picture and if I can look back at the end of the season and say it’s been rewarding, I’ll be more than happy.”

Mathers’ first two Super League tries for Warrington helped secure a third straight win at Celtic Crusaders on Saturday.

But even though the 22-6 triumph took Wolves within three points of third place, Mathers was far from happy with the performance.

He said: “They were my first two league tries and it’s always great to cross the line but it was just capping off great work by the boys.

“Chris Bridge took a pass from Paul Wood and got away for my first try and then Matt King made a great break for my second, I was just in the right place.

But, personally and as a team, we are not firing on all cylinders yet. We’re playing well in patches.

“Tony has been keen to get across to us that even though this is a results-based business, it’s all about the performances. Sometimes the win is not as satisfying as putting in a great performance, so we’re always striving to improve.

“Hopefully that will stand us in good stead because everyone knows what is expected of them and what we are working towards.”

A good performance will be crucial if Warrington are to claim their first win against St Helens in more than eight years on Saturday.

“They are not sat at the top for nothing, they are a great team,” said Mathers.

“But it’s just another team and another potential two points.

“People build it up and I can see why they do but it’s another game and another chance to work towards what we are trying to achieve.

“I didn’t realise how bad the run was but records are there to be broken.

“One thing I will say about what’s happened in the previous eight years is that this 17 didn’t play in the last game, never mind any of the other games over the last eight years, so it shouldn’t make any difference to us.

“We can only control what we do on Saturday.”

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