WARRINGTON Wolves’ match-winner against Salford Red Devils says he is proud to be a part of Steve Price’s hard-working team.
Kevin Brown touched down seven minutes from time to take the score beyond the reach of a spirited Salford Red Devils on Saturday and complete a successful challenge set by The Wire’s head coach.
“Pricey set us a goal of winning four games over the Easter block,” said the 33-year-old stand-off.
“It’s been really tough, but the boys have worked hard.
“Our last game against Cas took a lot out of us, it really took it out of the legs in some tough conditions.
“Salford have been pretty good at home and beaten some fantastic sides. We knew they were going to come to play.
“There’s some great attacking players in their ranks and they’re a big bunch too.
“They rested a few of their middle players against Leeds last Monday, so we could tell they were quite fresh.
“But I’m proud to be part of this team and the way we’re working for each other, and knocking out some performances like that is good to be involved in.
“It’s been a really tough Easter and there were a lot of tired bodies out there but we’ve built our confidence and our run on work ethic and resilience and I think it showed in big doses against Salford.”
Price said Brown’s decisive try was rewards for his strong display in defence and his growth as a half in this year’s team.
“I’m happy to be playing because I missed a few games at the start of the year,” said Brown.
“I feel that my body’s in a good place at the minute.
“I feel fit, I feel fresh. To do the Easter period with three 80-minutes is something that I really wanted to achieve, but just playing well too. So if Steve’s happy with me then I’ll be happy.”
The Wire’s attack is benefitting from Brown’s improving combination with Australian half-back partner Tyrone Roberts.
“Me and Tyrone had a stuttering start,” admits Brown.
“He missed a few games, I missed a few games, and to be fair to Tyrone the ones he did play in he wasn’t fit but there was a fair bit of pressure on him to perform straight away.
“You can see his quality. He’s genuine class and I love playing with him. The combination is definitely growing but there’s still a lot of improvement in us both.”
And the spine of the team, featuring Daryl Clark at hooker and Stefan Ratchford at hooker, is firing.
“Clarky’s been amazing,” said Brown.
“The way he keeps doing 80 minutes, not many hookers can do that – maybe only James Roby, or one or two others, but the way he’s playing and competing and defending is full credit to him.
“He’s knocking out 40 to 50 tackles per game and then still being really effective with the ball.
“And Stef’s kicking game has been really good along with his general play. He’s a fantastic player.
“We’re really good at the minute and the squad’s healthy so hopefully we can get Ben Murdoch-Masila back and we won’t be far off.”
Murdoch-Masila could miss up to a month with a knee injury while his teammates do have the luxury of a week between games ahead of the round 11 clash with Hull Kingston Rovers at The Halliwell Jones Stadium on Saturday.
“Yeah, I don’t know how we’ll feel going onto the field without limping,” Brown said with a smile on his face.
“It’s all part and parcel of being a rugby player but it’s been a great Easter and now it’s time to rest and recuperate and then knuckle down for the tough games coming up because we don’t want to let this good work slip.
“We need some time to rest and sort of recover. It’s been really challenging.
“Even when we’ve not been training we’ve been recovering so it’s been 24/7 to get the body right to get on the field but that was full credit to the conditioning staff and the backroom staff.
“I don’t think you could tell that it was our third game in a week, the way we finished the game we came home strong and I’m really happy that we got the job done.”
Brown says Hull KR, under their former Australia national team head coach Tim Sheens, present a different challenge
“Hull KR have probably been a little bit inconsistent,” he said.
“I watched them against Huddersfield and they were fantastic.
“One of my best mates, Danny Tickle, is there and he was disappointed with how they’d been playing of late but when Tim Sheens is the coach you should always expect the unexpected.
“As a player it’s a challenge playing against his teams because he throws a lot of different variations of plays and tactics and if you switch off for a second they’ll get you.
“But I’m really confident in my team and the way Pricey has got us defending in that we can limit them to a low score and if we can build on our attack then we should win.”
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