WARRINGTON Wolves had 60 per cent possession in a largely dominant first half against Hull FC at Magic Weekend on Sunday.

They made nearly 300 more metres, had to make 23 fewer tackles and were awarded three “set restarts” to put themselves in attacking positions.

Numbers like that point to a draining defensive effort from the Black and Whites to keep themselves in the game but would bring about questions as to whether or not they had enough left in the tank to take advantage.

They answered those questions emphatically as The Wire were stunned by a resurgent Hull display after the break.

Josh Griffin’s hat-trick sandwiched between tries from Adam Swift and Tex Hoy sealed a 30-18 win to allow head coach Tony Smith to enjoy his reunion with his former club.

Far from draining their resources, he opined that their first-half rearguard action energised them to ensure their efforts did not go to waste.

“There were difficulties in that game, especially defending our own line as much as we had to do in that first half,” he said.

“Sometimes it can take the petrol out of you for the remainder of the game and flatten you for the second half, but it did quite the opposite. It energised us.

“We got in there at half time and they were ready to go for the second half and I thought we had really good energy in the second half.

“If you can’t defend your own line, it puts so much pressure on the rest of your game.

“We had to develop some of that resolve and without that, it was going to be an even longer season.

“It is a long season anyway for any team but without that ability to defend and have some grit about you, you end up not looking forward to playing games.”