WARRINGTON Wolves put the ghost of last week’s Hull defeat to bed with an eight-try demolition of St Helens at the Etihad Stadium.

Wolves threatened a repeat of that nightmare, when they let slip a 16-6 lead in their 26-16 defeat, after Saints had scored twice in the second half to reduce a 30-10 half time lead to 30-22 on the hour.

But unlike last week, Wolves refused to back down under Saints’ rally and instead kicked on as the game drew to a close. Saints’ short turnaround seemed to take its toll in the final 10 minutes, with Wolves’ late flurry being capped by a hugely popular try for Adrian Morley on his return from a three-month injury lay-off, his first try since June, 2011.

Warrington’s other tries came from Chris Riley, two, Ryan Atkins, Trent Waterhouse, two and Simon Grix, while Lee Briers’ first half effort was his 150th Wolves try in 410 appearances.

Smith’s men got off to the perfect start, helped by Saints’ awful early clearance kick inside their own 20m line. With the ball charged down, Wolves looked to press their advantage and were granted a penalty as Saints desperately held down in the tackle while scrambling to defend their line. They didn’t need the extra tackles, as the ball was immediately whipped left through Richie Myler and Atkins to send Riley over in the corner.

Saints’ confidence had taken an early dent after conceding that try and they had barely left their own half before Wolves were in again. A last tackle play from Higham almost went dead, but a desperate offload sent Ratchford clear and his lofted kick allowed Atkins to climb higher than Nathan Ashe to score on the left. Ratchford added both kicks to hand Warrington a 12-0 lead after seven minutes.

Wolves could have stretched their advantage further in the ensuing minutes, as Ben Westwood dropped the ball over the line under pressure before Myler’s last tackle foray ended inches short of Saints’ line minutes later.

Instead it was Saints who next drew blood, somewhat against the run of play after a dominating opening from Tony Smith’s men. Saints’ first real attack in a decent position ended with Ratchford being driven back for a goal-line drop out once he had fielded Lance Hohaia’s grubber kick. Moments later they were over, following some wonderful passing and offloading that Wolves themselves would have been proud of. Offloads from Willie Manu and Tony Puletua kept the ball alive before Ade Gardner crashed over on the right wing. Tommy Makinson converted.

Wolves had looked on top until mid-way through the half, when a couple of mistakes gave Saints the chance to level the scores. First Micky Higham’s clearing kick went out on the full, before Ryan Atkins lost the ball inside his own 20-metre line to gift Saints a chance. They took it, Ashe’s pushed pass finding Jordan Turner running a nice line to cut the deficit. Makinson missed the chance to level it at 12-12, but Saints were back in the hunt.

That was until the 28th minute, when Wolves turned the game back in their favour with a purple patch that lasted until the half time whistle. First Simon Grix’s bulldozing break put them in position and a quick play-the-ball resulted in Riley adding his second of the game despite the attention of Gardner and Turner. Ratchford added the extras.

Then a hanging Briers kick was pounced upon by Joel Monaghan and the Aussie winger was almost in position to send Westwood over with an offload on the right, which was cleared up by the Saints defence. That only bought them a moment, however, as from the resulting scrum Briers made the most of some try-line collisions to sneak over for his 150th Warrington try. Ratchford converted to make it 24-10 with only minutes left on the clock.

But just when Wolves thought their scoring had ended for the half, they romped up the field almost immediately after kick off to score their fifth try of a rollercoaster half. Riley was sent scampering up the field down the left wing and Waterhouse was in support to score his third Super League try of the season. Ratchford’s conversion sent Wolves in at half time holding a 30-10 lead.

The second half started with deadlock, both sides struggling to break the other down in te opening 10 minutes of the half. It took a mistake to break it, and it was Ratchford who was the perpetrator. He fumbled when receiving a kick inside his own 20-metre line and Saints took full advantage, Turner climbing high to brilliantly take Wilkin’s kick under pressure and score. Makinson converted.

Wolves loss to Hull a week previous, during which they let slip a 16-6 lead, may just have been playing on the players’ minds as the half wore on. If it hadn’t, it certainly had once Saints had crossed for their second try of the half to reduce the deficit to 30-22. Gardners’ break up the right could not be stopped by Myler and Josh Jones was in support to send Hohaia over between the sticks. Makinson’s kick ensured Wolves would be in for a nervy final quarter hour.

All of a sudden Wolves were looking shaky, as Saints pressed forward to try and ram home their advantage. Several times Wolves were called to repel their opposition from near their line, but the defence that had been penetrated in such devastating fashion by Hull held strong.

Indeed, Wolves went on to make the game safe in the final 10 minutes. First Myler’s delayed pass sent Waterhouse reaching over for his second of the game, before Grix completed a fine team try in the corner. Myler and Higham exchanged passes before Myler’s long ball was flicked towards Grix by Currie and he beat the covering defence to score. Ratchford added both goals.

But the final say was left, fittingly, to Adrian Morley, who was making his first appearance in primrose and blue since tearing his bicep in week three. Higham’s break was supported by the hulking prop and the cheer and celebration from both the supporters and his teammates as he dropped over the line was a superb end to a great performance from Tony Smith’s men.

Saints: Lance Hohaia; Ade Gardner, Jordan Turner, Mark Percival, Tom Makinson; Nathan Ashe, Jon Wilkin; Tony Puletua, Stuart Howarth, Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Sia Soliola, Willie Manu, Josh Jones. Subs: Luke Thompson, Alex Walmersley, Anthony Laffranchi, Paul Clough.

Wolves: Stefan Ratchford; Joel Monaghan, Simon Grix, Ryan Atkins, Chris Riley; Lee Briers, Richie Myler; Paul Wood, Micky Higham, Chris Hill, Trent Waterhouse, Ben Westwood, Mike Cooper. Subs: Adrian Morley, Michael Monaghan, Garreth Carvell, Ben Currie.