TONY Smith has paid tribute to a Wiganer as Warrington Wolves bid to secure second spot in Super League at the DW Stadium tonight, Thursday.

The Wolves boss says newly crowned player of the year Chris Hill is ‘Mr Consistent’ as the England prop prepares to lead the charge against hometown club Wigan in the final regular round, and then into the play-offs next weekend.

And Smith has highlighted his gratitude to former Leigh Centurions coach Ian Millward for recommending a hard-working 26-year-old front rower who continues to reach new heights since turning full-time professional three years ago.

Hill, who in a repeat of 2012 also collected the players’ player of the year and the vice-presidents’ award at Tuesday night’s end-of-season club dinner, is now rated world class by Smith.

“I haven’t seen a dip in form from him throughout the year and he’s played a lot of games and a lot of game time,” said Smith.

“He’s Mr Consistent, works hard and is reliable. He’s well put together, he looks after his body, he does all the little things off the field very well. That all pays off.

“And he’s been a real leader within our camp this year in terms of performance and also his knowledge of the game. He’s got a good understanding of what’s needed and is a good teammate for everybody.

“I thought last year was a big year for him and the year before that was pretty good but this year he’s just kicked on again.”

Until joining Warrington in late 2011, the prop forward’s seven years in the Championship with Leigh Centurions served as a superb apprenticeship.

The industrious front rower is now tied to a long-term deal after twice catching the eye of NRL clubs in Australia – initially during last year’s World Cup and then after Wolves’ pre-season training camp Down Under.

Smith said: “He went under a lot of radars for a long time.

“I’ve got to thank Ian Millward for really tipping us on how good he was and recommending him to me and us to him.

“I’ll always be indebted to ‘Basil’ on that account.

“There’s quite a lot of red-faced recruitment personnel within Super League for not discovering him earlier.

“I think it was to his advantage in some respects because it gave him time to develop in that Championship, hone his skills and develop his body to the rigours of Super League.

“Once he was pointed out to me it was quite obvious he was going to make an adaption.

“I don’t think anybody expected it would be quite as quick an adaption to Super League as what it has been.

“He’s incredible.”