WILL the real Warrington Wolves please stand up?

Too often in 2017, The Wire’s performances have been riddled with an inability to execute basic skills. On Friday, however, that all changed.

Forwards charging effortlessly down the field, speed and urgency from dummy-half and energy in defence; this was more like last year’s successful Wolves vintage.

Not that it started too well. It took Adam Swift only 41 seconds to inject a sense of grim foreboding into most of the Halliwell Jones Stadium crowd.

When that lead had been extended to 14-0 thanks to Ryan Morgan’s try and Tommy Makinson’s penalty, the writing appeared to be on the wall.

Wolves needed a score before the break to keep this competitive. In their hour of need, they got two.

Benjamin Jullien, again an excellent performer in attack and defence, got the try his recent efforts have deserved before Mike Cooper touched down for the first time in a Warrington shirt since 2013.

After staring down the barrel of a 14-point deficit, Wolves had reduced the half-time lead to two and held all the momentum.

Enter Harvey Livett. A couple of handling errors and a kick off out on the full had punctuated his first half, but the latest youngster to step off the Wolves production line grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck.

Aided by the boundless energy of the returning Morgan Smith from the bench, Livett was instrumental in a run of points Saints simply had no answer to.

He scooped up a loose ball to put The Wire ahead for the first time before finding the perfect pass to send Rhys Evans screaming through a hole.

With Saints firmly on the rack, Wolves went back-to-back as another opportunist try from Tom Lineham was followed straight from the kick off by a scorching Evans break, which ended with Ryan Atkins taking full advantage of a scattered defensive line.

Atkins’ try made it 36 points in 25 brutal minutes. The sort of run produced by that great 2011 side to blow sides away.

Dominique Peyroux got Saints back on the board after more than 40 minutes of punishment, but Atkins added the coup de gras on the hooter.

The challenge for Wolves now is to churn out this sort of performance consistently. Sending their neighbours packing with their tails firmly between their legs should give them the confidence to do just that.

INTERESTING NOTES:

. Ryan Atkins’ second try was his 200th career touchdown.

. Wolves notch their biggest points total of the season (previous best was 27 v Brisbane in the World Club Series).

. The Wire become the first team to score more than 30 points against Saints in 2017.

. Tony Smith’s side extend their unbeaten home run to five games.

MATCH FACTS:

Super League Round 13, Friday, May 5, 2017.

Warrington Wolves…40 St Helens…18

Wolves: Kurt Gidley; Matty Russell, Rhys Evans, Ryan Atkins, Tom Lineham; Declan Patton, Harvey Livett; Mike Cooper, Brad Dwyer, Ashton Sims, Jack Hughes, Benjamin Jullien, Ben Westwood. Subs: Joe Philbin, Dom Crosby, George King, Morgan Smith.

Saints: Tommy Makinson; Adam Swift, Jake Spedding, Ryan Morgan, Regan Grace; Theo Fages, Matty Smith; Kyle Amor, Tommy Lee, Luke Douglas, Zeb Taia, Morgan Knowles, Luke Thompson. Subs: James Roby, Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Adam Walker, Dominique Peyroux.

Scoring: Swift try, 1min, Makinson goal, 0-6; Makinson penalty, 13mins, 0-8; Morgan try, 27mins, Makinson goal, 0-14; Jullien try, 31mins, Livett goal, 6-14; Cooper try, 35mins, Livett goal, 12-14; Livett try, 45mins, Livett goal, 18-14; Evans try, 52mins, Livett goal, 24-14; Lineham try, 58mins, Livett goal, 30-14; Atkins try, 60mins, Livett goal, 36-14; Peyroux try, 72mins, 36-18; Atkins try, 80mins, 40-18.

Penalties: Wolves 8 Saints 8.

Referee: Phil Bentham.

Attendance: 11,681.

Man of the match (live blog fan’s poll): Harvey Livett.