Warrington Wolves fan and author Rob Watson – aka Spirit of 55 – has his say on the victory over Wigan Warriors…

IT has been so long since Wire played that this almost felt like the first game of a season.

The performance also had some classic signs of a first game after a long lay-off, but the effort and spirit more than made up for the rustiness.

With a few players missing and others probably not playing in their best position, the lack of slickness in attack was understandable.

Hopefully the main lesson Wire will take from this match is that they do not have to be perfect to win.

There are many ways to win a match and the more ways you can win, the better your chances when the most important matches come along at the end of the season.

That will not stop them wanting to improve on this performance in order to give themselves a greater chance of winning matches in the future.

The handling mistakes were the most obvious area for improvement. Also, whoever plays on Wire’s right-hand side in defence must now know that it is highly likely that their opponents will target them.

It is up to whoever takes the field in that position to stand up to that test and ultimately convince opposition coaches that it is no longer the weakest part of Wire’s defence.

In general though, Wire’s defence was excellent, in particular the effort levels and desire to defend their line.

It would be obvious to say that Wigan are not at their best right now, but they still had plenty of possession near the line and Wire did well to only concede two tries.

This season has already got a disjointed look to it. Whilst it is not wise to guarantee anything lately, it looks in all likelihood that there will still be a Grand Final to win at the end of this season.

Wire continue to take the approach of collecting superstar players – like a kid trying to complete their sticker collection – with the signing of George Williams.

Only time will tell whether that approach is a successful one. It has to be noted that this latest signing is of an international class player still in his prime with potentially plenty of years ahead of him.

That he turned down a return to his hometown club Wigan is another reason to be happy about the most recent acquisition.

It will be interesting now to see if Price tries to get all of Williams, Widdop, Austin and Ratchford in the team and if he does how he does it.

Getting the best out of those four for the team, whether that means leaving one of them out or not, could be the most crucial factor in deciding whether Wire end this season by finally winning a Grand Final.