IF Steve Price was under any illusion about the size of the task he faces at Warrington Wolves, it will be a little clearer after Thursday night.

Missing star half back Tyrone Roberts with a knee problem, Wire fell away after a bright start to succumb to a second straight Super League defeat.

If the narrow opening week defeat to Leeds Rhinos had plenty of promise, there was little for Wolves fans to enjoy on a depressing night at The John Smith's Stadium.

Remarkably Warrington made 28 errors in the wet and windy conditions, with 14 handling errors and 14 penalties conceded – one from the kick-off as Stefan Ratchford booted the ball over the touchline.

In comparison, Huddersfield made just eight handling errors.

The more Warrington tried and the further behind they fell on the scoreboard, the more the errors mounted up.

And the frustration in keeping hold of the ball seemed to affect discipline too. Mike Cooper was put on report at the end of a fiery five minutes of confrontations between the two packs midway through the second half as Wire aimed to find a foothold in the game.

It seemed a long time since the first five minutes when Warrington took the lead.

After a 50 metre Ben Currie gallop, Warrington went right and then left before Ratchford spotted space in behind the Giants defence to weight a kick perfectly for the onrushing Tom Lineham to touchdown.

But that would be the only time Wolves crossed the whitewash.

By 18 minutes, Giants had scored twice. First, Dale Ferguson latched onto a neat Danny Brough pass to crash over before Jack Mamo's kick was spilled behind his own posts by Ratchford, allowing Darnell McIntosh to score.

Had Mamo's try not been controversially ruled out just before half time, the score could have been much worse.

Goodwin kicked a penalty seconds later to send Wire in just 14-6 down.

And at the start of the second half signs were better as they took hold of territory but without ever really threatening to score.

And when Matty Russell made a hash of another Brough kick with 15 minutes left to allow Jordan Turner a simple try, it was game over.

Steve Price will be learning a lot about his team at the moment. They just need to get the message fast. Especially with derby matches against Widnes and Wigan to come over the next two weekends.

INTERESTING NOTES

. Steve Price becomes the fourth Wire coach to lose successive opening games in charge, joining Reg Bowden, David Plange, Paul Cullen and Tony Smith

. Wolves' loss record at the John Smith's Stadium extends to five matches

. Danny Brough takes his sequence of matches in which he has scored against The Wire to 14

MATCH FACTS

Super League Round Two, Thursday, February 8, 2018

Huddersfield Giants...20 Warrington Wolves...26

Giants: Jake Mamo; Darnell McIntosh, Lee Gaskell, Jordan Turner, Aaron Murphy; Jordan Rankin, Danny Brough; Paul Clough, Adam O'Brien, Ukuma Ta'ai, Dale Ferguson, Ollie Roberts, Ryan Hinchcliffe. Subs: Kruise Leeming, Sebastine Ikahihfo, Daniel Smith, Tyler Dickinson.

Wolves: Stefan Ratchford; Tom Lineham, Bryson Goodwin, Ryan Atkins, Matty Russell; Kevin Brown, Dec Patton; Chris Hill, Daryl Clark, Mike Cooper, Jack Hughes, Ben Currie, Ben Murdoch-Masila. Subs: Ben Westwood, George King, Joe Philbin, Morgan Smith.

Scoring: Lineham try, 5mins, 0-4; Ferguson try, 15mins, Brough goal, 6-4; McIntosh try, 19mins, Brough goal, 12-4; Brough penalty goal, 35mins, 14-4; Goodwin penalty goal, 40mins, 14-6; Turner try, 63mins, Brough goal, 20-6.

Penalties: Giants 14 Wolves 11

Referee: Ben Thaler

Attendance: 5,104

Top man (Guardian readers’ vote): Tom Lineham

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