SKY Sports pundits gave their verdicts on Warrington Wolves’ performance during last night’s defeat to St Helens following the game.

Lead presenter Brian Carney was joined by Warrington-born St Helens women’s team captain Jodie Cunningham and former Leeds Rhinos forward Jamie-Jones Buchanan to discuss The Wire’s 28-2 defeat – their second in a row.

Having made an encouraging start to the game, Daryl Powell’s side found themselves 12-2 down at the break before a blunt second-half display saw Saints canter away.

Cunningham said Wolves’ decision to start moving the ball around and playing a more high-risk game played straight into their hosts’ hands.

“Warrington went away from what was working for them in that first 10-20 minutes,” she said.

“They started trying to throw the ball about, they were quite lateral and started making errors.

“That’s when Saints start having a smile on their face because they know they’ve got you. They know you’ve gone away from your game plan.

“They just carry on with the easy metres, hitting round the middle and getting joy when they’ve earned the right to play “They waited for Warrington to start trying to throw the ball about and fix things.

“They could have stayed in this game – they were in it, they weren’t too many points behind – and they just started throwing it around and the completion rate went against them.

“If you give possession to Saints, they’re going to put points on you.”

Jones-Buchanan said the game was akin to Warrington being “stuck in a spider’s web” and believed it will take a “long-term process” for them to reach their neighbours’ sustained level of success.

“A good friend of mine who used to be a 400m runner says the race is always won by the guy who slows down the least,” he said.

“Saints just persevere and to be honest, I don’t think they ever got out of third gear. They pretty much cruised most of that game.

“My question would be does Daryl Powell think that performance was a lot better. It looked a lot more composed, more controlled, less erratic but also less threatening.

“Does he think he’s starting to see his fingerprint on this Warrington Wolves side?

“It’s a long-term investment for Warrington Wolves.

“You talk about St Helens luring them in, it’s almost like being stuck in a spider’s web – the harder they tried to get out, the more they got wrapped up and ultimately they were put to the sword.

“That’s the quality of St Helens. That hasn’t just come about in 2022 – this is a manifestation of the past three years.

“Daryl Powell’s got to accept that they’ve got to go through that process themselves in order to change that culture and that team.”