STEVE Price praised a “fairly dominant” display from his Warrington Wolves side in their pre-season victory over Widnes Vikings.
The Wire out-scored their neighbours by eight tries to two as they gave Ryan Atkins a fitting testimonial, with Jake Mamo marking his first Wire appearance with a hat-trick in the 38-12 success.
Choose your Wire man of the match
Ryan Atkins testimonial as it happened
With less than two weeks to go until the Super League opener against Leeds Rhinos, Price said he was pleased with how things are coming together.
“It was a strong performance I thought,” he said.
“Credit to Widnes, they had a red-hot crack for the first 34 minutes.
“I thought there were some really good tries scored by our group. With it being eight tries to two, I thought it was a fairly dominant display.
“Jake Mamo had some really promising touches, but overall it’s a step in the right direction.
“I was really pleased with the attacking structures we put in place today and it’s only going to get better.
“Once we started to trade sets and got some continuity in our good-ball sets, you could start to see the transformations we’ve been working hard on in pre-season.
“That was really positive from where I was sitting.”
Blake Austin also marked his first appearance for the club with a try while Dec Patton, Daryl Clark, Josh Charnley and Tom Lineham also crossing.
Blake Austin showed glimpses of what he could do as he marked his Wire debut with a try. Picture by Mike Boden
Price hailed Austin’s first display in a Wire shirt while also praising Mamo’s three-try showing.
“Blake is going to be fantastic for us. All the players love playing with him and what he brings for our club.
“It’s going to take a bit of time, but we showed some promising signs.
“Jake did a job on the wing for us and then moved to full-back. He showed some really great speed to finish those tries off.
“The boys are in a good place. We’ve come away with no injuries and we’re just looking forward to round one now.”
Full video interview to come
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