WARRINGTON Wolves continued their fine record against Bradford Bulls with comfortable and convincing victory at the Halliwell Jones Stadium.

Wolves had not lost to the visitors since June 2009, winning eight consecutive meetings between the two sides since then, and never looked likely to miss out on a ninth as they cruised to two Super League points.

Tries from Simon Grix, Ben Currie and Chris Riley got the ball rolling before the break to open a 14-4 lead after Adrian Purtell’s reply, but it was in the second half where Wolves’ attacking class shone through.

Joel Monaghan's 14th try in 13 appearances kick-started the second half glut and three tries in the space of 10 minutes from Chris Hill, Ryan Atkins and Grix ensured Wolves, who showed some pleasing improvements in defence, kicked on from last week’s impressive rout of Championship side Keighley Cougars in the cup.

They got the perfect start, opening the scoring in only the third minute. Stefan Ratchford’s high bomb on their first possession caused problems in the Bulls defence and Brett Kearney was forced to ground the ball for a goal line drop out. Jarrod Sammut’s kick was poor, meaning it took only a couple of tackles for the hosts to put themselves into position and send Simon Grix over off a short ball from Ben Westwood. Brett Hodgson’s kick came back off the post and Wolves led 4-0.

Bulls responded well, driving Wolves back to their own 10-metre line and testing the home side’s line defence, an area that has been lacking in Wolves’ game recently. But Tony Smith’s men were up to the task, repelling Bradford and eventually cleaning up through Grix.

Wolves doubled their lead on 13 minutes through similar circumstances to the first try. This time it was Myler’s high bomb that caused problems in the Bradford defence and once again Sammut was called to kick from behind his own line. A penalty gave Wolves a fresh set in front of Bradford’s posts and Ratchford provided a fine grubber for Ben Currie to score his second try of the season. Hodgson’s extras made it 10-0.

But it was not to stay that way for long, as Wolves’ line defence was about to be tested to the limit. A high shot from Ben Westwood inside the 10 metre line started the Bradford attack and two more back-to-back penalties heaped further pressure on the tiring Wolves. Finally Adrian Purtell broke the line and crossed for the visitor’s first try on 21 minutes, though Sammut was wide with the extras.

Then came Bulls’ best spell in the game, with the visitors asking a few more questions of Wolves’ defence in the following minutes. But the hosts responded to the added pressure with aplomb, helped by Danny Addy’s gift of a knock on when Bulls had been given a penalty inside Warrington’s 20-metre line. Myler was also on hand to help diffuse the danger, reading the play brilliantly to intercept and clear the danger up the right wing.

Warrington’s superior attacking prowess was increasingly becoming the difference between the two sides and the hosts proved their point with a third try. Again it was off the back of a goal line drop out, this time caused by Westwood’s long range grubber. Once again Wolves swept forward, sending the ball left for Hodgson to throw a lovely cut-out pass for Chris Riley to cross in the corner. Hodgson’s touchline kick drifted wide of the upright and Wolves took a 14-4 lead into the break.

But that was only after a rare Joel Monaghan penalty attempt from the half way line following a high shot on Myler. Unfortunately for the prolific winger, his kicking boots were not as sure as his hands and the attempt dropped short of the posts.

The rain came pouring down at the break and handling errors became more frequent from both sides. Luckily they worked in Wolves’ favour to start with, with Bulls twice losing the handle on the ball next to the home line. Warrington then twisted the knife by romping up the other end of the field and stretching their advantage. Some wonderful support play and passing from Michael Monaghan and Ratchford sent the hosts charging foward and within moments they had their fourth try.

A high, hanging bomb from Myler perfectly found the right corner and Joel Monaghan once again showed why he is so dangerous under the high ball, catching and touching down within inches of the dead ball line. Hodgson missed the tough touchline conversion attempt, but Wolves now held an 18-4 lead.

The hosts were on a roll and a brilliant break from Hodgson, Ratchford and Myler should have resulted in a try, but for Purtell's brilliant try-saving tackle to haul Myler down short of the line.

Bulls did not lose heart and continued to test Wolves’ defence, helped at times by handling errors and a knock on from Danny Bridge in front of his own line. But once again Warrington’s defence held strong and just as they had all game the home side moved quickly up the other end of the field to show their opponents how it is done. A hat-trick of tries in the space of seven minutes killed the game off in style, the first coming off the back of a penalty as Chris Hill romped over from short range for his first try of the season.

The second came off the back of a nice break from Ryan Atkins and Richie Myler, as the pair raced through a gap and exchanged passes to bamboozle the covering defenders and send Atkins in on the left. And the third and final try came as Wolves were starting to overwhelm the tiring visitors, Grix on hand to drift over unopposed on the left to score his second of game.

Hodgson scored just one of the three conversions, but even that was enough to propel Wolves to a comfortable 32-4 victory.

Wolves: Brett Hodgson; Joel Monaghan, Simon Grix, Ryan Atkins, Chris Riley; Stefan Ratchford, Richie Myler; Mike Cooper, Micky Higham, Chris Hill, Trent Waterhouse, Ben Westwood, Ben Currie. Subs: Michael Monaghan, Paul Wood, Danny Bridge, Glenn Riley.

Bulls: Brett Kearney; Elliot Kear, Adrian Purtell, Keith Lulia, Michael Platt; Jarrod Sammut, Luke Gale; Nick Scruton, Heath L’Estrange, Manese Manuokafoa, John Bateman, Elliot Whitehead, Chev Walker. Subs: Matt Diskin, Danny Addy, Ben Evans, Adam Sidlow.