WARRINGTON Wolves coach Paul Cullen believes that mental toughness was the key to Saturday's success against arch-rivals Widnes.
He feared the worst after his troops fell 10-0 behind in the opening 30 minutes. Nothing went right for them early on but unlike at London in their previous outing they refused to be downhearted.
They stuck to Cullen's carefully devised game plan and eventually reaped the rewards.
Cullen said: "The big call to the players in the build-up to the Widnes game was how to react when things go wrong.
"We were bound to struggle at some stage because Widnes don't come down Liverpool Road without looking to play.
"We knew that they would be fuelled on adrenaline and emotion and I told the players that they would have to tough it out.
"I wanted them to stick to structure at all times and the players did not let me down.
"They didn't panic like they did against London. They stayed patient and composed and it was a win for mental toughness."
Cullen added: "To defeat Widnes we needed a big effort right across the board. We couldn't afford any weak links and we didn't have any. It was a massive win and I'm delighted."
Cullen had special words of praise for half back pairing Nathan Wood and Graham Appo. They performed so well that Cullen 'almost forgot that Lee Briers wasn't playing' while fellow try scorer Daryl Cardiss impressed his new coach on his home debut.
Cullen said: "I think that was Daryl's first win of the season and he proved to me that I made the right decision in signing him.
"To pick up a guy from a team that's been in the negative downward spiral that Halifax have been in is a gamble because you don't know what damage has been done.
"We know how much damage can be done because we were there last year.
"This time last season we'd lost our fourth game of the season against Widnes and were staring relegation in the face.
"We had collapsed and imploded. Those scars take some healing but we have stabilized now. We've bottomed out and we are coming back strong."
Cullen believes that Wolves' play-off push will go right down to the wire.
He said: "The form of Castleford against Leeds on Friday night proves there are no certainties in Rugby League.
"Anything can happen between now and the end of the season."
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