DARYL Powell praised the way his Warrington Wolves side turned things around to emerge victorious against Hull KR.
The Wire fought back from trailing 12-0 inside the first quarter by scoring either side of half time to level matters before pulling clear in the later stages.
Victory was their 10th of the campaign and puts them four points clear at the top of Super League as attention now turns to the Challenge Cup.
After the game, Powell assessed his side's performance and picked out a few individuals who shone.
Here is everything the Wire boss said in his post-match press conference...
Q: Considering the position you were in after 20 minutes and the way the game was going, that’s some win isn’t it?
DP: I actually thought we started alright but heaven knows what happened then!
We lost our composure – we made quite a few errors, gave away a few six-agains and penalties and they were offloading the ball way too often.
The weight of that possession and pressure really was too much for us but we didn’t defend our try line very well – they had a few really quick rucks that got them points.
We had to regroup – the try just before half time is pretty handy and gets us back in the game, but we were really good in the second half and dominated the game for large parts.
We looked a much better team in the second half, but it was a tough game. They’ve clearly got something going on there and we had to work hard for that.
We needed to win the game and we found a way to do it. We had a lot more control in the second half, we defended a lot better and territory and possession was generally in our favour.
Q: What do you think it was that turned the game your way and how much do you think your bench helped with that when they came on?
DP: We were conceding offloads a lot but the bench put a bit of a stop to that when they came on.
I thought Joe Philbin was unbelievable – that’s the best I’ve seen him play – and then Sam Kasiano is real punchy, so that’s made a difference.
I felt like we needed to get Matt Dufty out there – Josh (Thewlis) was class last week but he’d made a couple of errors so there will be lessons for him, but Duff responded really positively to being out of the team. I thought he played really well for the whole of the game after that.
You could see straight away that he was on a mission – he had the bit between his teeth, he carried the ball strong and was fast and elusive all game.
It’s great to see him responding that way.
Q: Do you feel like Joe Philbin has been building towards a performance like that, not just in terms of his impact but the number of minutes he spent out there as well?
DP: He’s worked really hard as it’s a tough injury to come back from. It takes games to get yourself back where you need to be.
He looks like he’s in the shape of his life, he’s carrying the ball great and defensively, he’s class. I just thought he was unbelievable.
Q: At 14-14 going into the final quarter, how much mettle did it take to make a strike for the game in a match that at times, felt like a play-off in terms of intensity?
DP: It was really tough – they hit the post with the goal kick as well and we did well to scramble and stop that through Josh McGuire and Matty Russell.
It was a tough period and we had to battle our way out of it, then it was a class try to put us six in front.
The drop goal is then a really mature piece of play from George and the team. It was a real mature way to fight our way through the last 20 minutes.
Q: Josh McGuire’s try-saving tackle in the first half to stop it going to 16-0 was a real game-breaker wasn’t it.
DP: It was and I think that’s the best he’s played. He was really solid and efforts like that keep you in games.
The back row is a different role but he played there quite a bit last year and has done throughout his career.
We’re going to see the best of him for the rest of the season. He’s a strong leader and is an international-quality player.
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