Wolves close gap as Smith praises rivals

The two points, which took the Wolves back to within a point of leaders Wigan with two games to go, were earned in sweltering conditions in Perpignan.

Warrington were able to stand the heat, though, and, with Wigan up next, coach Smith was glad of the workout for a side he rates highly.

“It was a tough win and a game that could have gone either way,” he said. “Both teams had their chances, but on the whole I thought it was a good game of rugby league. It took some character from us to come back, get ourselves into and keep ourselves in the game.

“It reminded me a little bit of when we played each other last time, when they scored a couple of runaway, long-distance tries on us and that kept them in the game and they ended up deserving the win.

“The same happened for us out there tonight and we ended up deserving the win, but it took some hard work to get there.

“A lot of our guys were under their best out there and the conditions played some part in that and tough opposition played some part in that too.”

Veteran playmaker Lee Briers returned from injury to steady the ship for the Wolves, and Smith was grateful for his contribution.

“Lee Briers ran the game out there,” he said. “He was the stand-out player out on the park, he bossed the game out there and that’s very good for a player who has been out with injury for so long. He really led us around today and showed some great leadership and character.”

Catalan boss Trent Robinson was left disappointed by his own side who would have gone into the top four with a win, but was also unhappy with the performance of referee Thierry Alibert, believing the French official should have awarded a second-half try to Daryl Millard.

“I thought we worked really hard, but we got a lesson on marker plays and scraps, those are things they work really hard on and on the small things we didn’t do those,” he said.

Smith has also thrown his weight behind a growing campaign to reduce the number of teams in Super League.

A host of one-sided matches, many of them involving Warrington, have prompted calls for the top flight to be cut to 12.

“I’m not sure there is enough quality for 14,” said Smith, who was in charge of Leeds when they recorded a record 1,152 points in 2005. “There’s way too many matches that have shown that to be the case. It’s a matter of opinion but I think there should be significant reviews done each year to assess the league.”