Smith praises the work of his pack stars (From Warrington Guardian)

Tony Smith praises the work of his Warrington Wolves pack stars

11:09pm Friday 22nd March 2013 in Wolves news By Mike Parsons

THOSE ‘big men down the middle’ earned the praise of their boss after steering Warrington Wolves to victory over Super League pacesetters Huddersfield Giants.

Head of coaching and rugby Tony Smith was full of admiration for their work in ‘extreme’ conditions and highlighted the particular efforts of Garreth Carvell, Paul Wood and Chris Hill.

He said: “Carvell came up with 35 tackles and no misses, and doesn’t usually get the amount of game time he had tonight.

“Woody did 36 tackles and Hilly was up there with a similar amount too. Our defensive effort was enormous.”

About the game generally, he said: “That was tough – a good old traditional winter rugby league game.

“We were fantastic. You’ve got to complement everyone who was out there on the field because it was extreme – even sitting in the stands was difficult.

“The players really did put their bodies on the line and handled it pretty well.

“And we came through pretty unscathed which is good for a game in slippery conditions like that.

“Bennie Westwood was dazed when he came off but he could have gone back on.”

Smith’s been offering some banter when touching on the performances of veteran full back Brett Hodgson this season and did so again after his 16-point display.

“I think the pitch and conditions brought everybody back to Hodgo’s pace,” he joked.

“He read the game well. He’s a good pro and there are things that he does very well that he did for us at the right times tonight.”

Smith praised the ground staff for their work in preparing the pitch for the game, including using a blue dye on the pitch markings.

But he was critical of the club not having a coloured ball available for use in snowy conditions.

“We should have a different coloured ball instead of a white one for these occasions and we’ll learn from that.”