Smith hails Briers response

He's repaid his buddies says Wolves coach

Last updated: 12th February 2012   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Smith hails Briers response

Tony Smith was delighted with Lee Briers' performance

He (Lee Briers) showed his intent right from the word go by getting tackled quite a number of times and even trying to put a couple of shots on in defence. It was a great way for him to respond and the best way.

Tony Smith
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Warrington coach Tony Smith paid tribute to veteran half-back Lee Briers after his side's 50-10 Super League victory over the London Broncos on Sunday.

Briers, who was dropped by Smith for the opening-day draw at Hull last weekend as a disciplinary measure, was recalled to the side at stand-off.

And the 33-year-old responded in the best possible fashion, scoring two tries and having a hand in five others in a fine individual display.

"I thought Lee did the best thing he could to go and repay his buddies for missing out the previous week," said Smith. "And that's by going out there and putting his body on the line for them.

"He showed his intent right from the word go by getting tackled quite a number of times and even trying to put a couple of shots on in defence.

"It was a great way for him to respond and the best way. Rather than talk about it, just get on with it and he dealt with it very well I thought."

Impressed

Smith was delighted with the victory in what he considered to be a slower approach to the game so far this season.

Smith added: "I thought we were really patchy in the first half, but I was really happy with the second half.

"We are still coming to terms with the different interpretations this year. It's a slow style we're playing and once we came to terms with that we controlled things better.

"All the games so far have a different pace to what they have been and that's the way we are playing now and we will take a little time to adjust to those sorts of things and when we do we do OK."

Smith was also impressed by his side's youngsters, adding: "I thought there were some exciting young people out there today.

"I thought Rhys Evans was terrific and Stefan Ratchford certainly fitted the bill at full-back and was outstanding showing what great versatility he has and how many options I have on where to play him and what he's capable of."

Threats

London coach Rob Powell said there would be no "knee-jerk reaction" after his side suffered their second straight defeat with another heavy loss at the hands of the Wolves

"The players are not happy with the way they went and know we need to have a good response next week," he said.

"There will be no knee-jerk reaction but we will need a good week of training in order to prepare for next week.

"There were some things that were clearly not good enough which we need to do better in order to give ourselves a chance.

"It's one thing talking about Warrington's threats and knowing what they are and then it's another thing dealing with it.

"There were things happening to us early in the sets which we talked about happening and that's why they are a good team because they capitalise on their opportunities.

"It was the long-range stuff, not the arm wrestle that we struggled with and therefore it's disappointing to lose a game and concede so many points through one-off counterpunch plays which we didn't deal with."

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