LEE Briers was impressed with Warrington Wolves under 19s academy team’s performance in the win at Salford Red Devils.

It was the first game he had seen this season, having been on a coaching development mission in Australia Briers said: “I was delighted to see the hard work that the lads have put in during pre-season paying off.

“I thought that our defensive work was very good and when we had the ball in hand we looked very dangerous all over the field.

“There is still a lot to work on but we are certainly in a good place at present.”

Fellow under 19s head coach Danny Fullerton added: “Joe Philbin and Ryan Maneely both put in terrific stints once again and were rewarded with three tries each, while half-back pair Louis Jouffret and Declan Patton controlled the game superbly and kept us on the front foot throughout.

“Ben Stansfield came into the side and had an excellent debut on the left wing while James Jones came on in the back row for his first appearance at this level and didn’t look out of place.

“It is great to see the week on week improvement that the lads have shown and we hope to continue that this Thursday when we will, without doubt, have our biggest challenge to date when we entertain Wigan Warriors and we will be working hard in training on the areas that we know we can improve on.

“It is going to be a great occasion for the lads to be playing in a curtain raiser at The Halliwell Jones Stadium and we are all really looking forward to putting on a good spectacle.”

Thursday’s curtain-raiser to the Super League round six clash between Wolves and Wigan will kick off at 5.30pm.