JOE Philbin says Warrington Wolves are “nowhere near where they want to be” in terms of performance.

However, he believes that makes the rest of the season all the more exciting as they aim to build to a crescendo.

Four straight Super League wins either side of the coronavirus shutdown has The Wire sat alongside St Helens and Catalans Dragons on 10 points – two points behind leaders Wigan Warriors.

With two games now under their belt since the restart and no league action for a fortnight, Philbin and his teammates have a chance to work on several areas.

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The homegrown powerhouse insists they will use the time wisely.

“I think the staff were a bit blown away when we came back in after lockdown,” he said.

“Everyone has come back as fit as when they left, if not fitter. From a physical stand point, we’re in a good place.

“We’ve just got to keep building those combinations and we’ll be polishing that over the next couple of weeks.

Warrington Guardian:

“I think we’re cruising along nicely, but we’re only scratching the surface really.

“We’re nowhere near where we want to be by any stretch of the imagination.

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“Getting a few wins in a row is nice and it builds momentum, but there’s so much more to come from us and its exciting.

“I don’t think anyone could expect us to come back absolutely firing after four months off and two weeks of training together.

“If we keep doing the basics of working hard for your mate next to you and putting the effort in, the combinations will come. We’re working hard on those combinations, but it doesn’t come overnight.

“We’re working our backsides off for each other and you won’t go too far wrong when you do that.”

Given how busy he was in the five months between games, the fact Philbin managed to keep himself in shape is testament to his professionalism.

He and partner Laura Buckley welcomed their first child, son Bobby Ray, into the world in April while the 25-year-old also set up sportswear company “Gripz” during lockdown.

While he is enjoying being a father and a business owner as well as a rugby player, the former Culcheth Eagles and Latchford Albion junior says it is nice to get back to the bread and butter

“It has been nice to have other things to focus my attention on during lockdown, but I’m a rugby player deep down,” he said.

Warrington Guardian:

“When we got that phone call with a set-in-stone date to come back to training, it was brilliant. It’s easy to take things for granted.

“You go in and have a laugh with your mates – it’s the best job in the world.

“We’re very privileged to do what we do but we work very hard for the fruits of our labour.”

Rugby league is a different game than the one the played in March – temporarily at least.

With no scrums and a “six again” rule to penalise ruck infringements, matches are much quicker with the ball in play for longer.

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Despite it being theoretically disadvantageous to him and his fellow middles, Philbin is a fan of the new rules.

“It is very, very fast,” he says of the new rugby league ‘normal.’

“I’m a big fan of it because the games should be more of a spectacle and entertaining to watch.

“It brings more fatigue into the game, which is probably good to give the smaller players more space.

“For big lads like me in the middle like me, it’s going to be hard but we’ve just got to be as fit as we can be.”