IT was never going to happen overnight, but this should act as a bit of a wake-up call for Warrington Wolves.

While this was only a friendly and the finished article was never going to be on show, the thousands who packed into The Halliwell Jones Stadium were hopeful of seeing more than what they did.

After all, this is a team trying to get to grips with a completely new style of play and for long spells, it showed.

With the ball, they were clunky and never really got the chance to build too much pressure on the Wigan line.

Warrington Guardian:

When they found themselves in positions of threat as they did plenty of times after the break, too often they would let themselves down with errors or poor last-tackle options.

In order for Wire’s talented selection of backs to strut their stuff, however, a platform needs to be laid in the forwards.

On this occasion, they were dominated up front – a realisation of the fears of many supporters for this season.

They found metres hard to come by particularly in the first half and as a result, the home side only got into good field position a handful of times.

Warrington Guardian:

By contrast, Wigan’s big men regularly punched holes in the Wire line – exhibited perfectly by Jai Field’s second try, created by a superb carry and offload by Patrick Mago – and made big impacts both on and off the ball.

It is not an isolated incident – barring Joe Bullock being swapped for Chris Hill, this is the same set of forwards as last year – and this will not have done anything to appease those crying out for more size and power to be brought in.

It goes to show the difference Mike Cooper, absent through illness for this one, makes to this set of forwards. Once again, it looks like much is going to rely on him.

Still, this was not an evening completely devoid of bright spots – the displays of new signings Peter Mata’utia and Oliver Holmes on the right edge showed great promise.

Warrington Guardian:

Connor Wrench showed up well on the other side, too – a demonstration of the promise seen in him and a big booster, given he will likely start the season in the centres in the absence of Toby King.

And a crowd of nearly 8,000 – much higher than can usually be expected for a friendly match – was just the kind of turnout Stefan Ratchford deserved to celebrate his impeccable service to the club over the past decade.

Warrington Guardian:

It would be foolish to judge The Wire’s new era on this performance alone – with the kind of changes Powell wants to make, there is surely going to be an element of short-term pain for long-term gain.

With the new season less than a fortnight away, though, this has the feel of a reality check.

All pictures by Mike Boden