IT was a fair struggle, but they got there in the end.

In many ways, this game could act as a bit of a summation of Warrington Wolves’ season – they made much harder work of it than it ought to have been but they did just about enough to avoid a humbling.

Given the teams both sides put out, a comfortable Wire win looked to be on the cards as Salford went into self-conservation mode ahead of the play-offs – they had earned that right following an excellent campaign.

However, we have found out the painfully hard way this year that this squad doesn’t really do comfortable.

In the end, their experience and quality told but at times – particularly in the second half – it looked as though the thrown-together Salford side that included six debutants and ex-Wire prop Sitaleki Akauola lining up in the centres had them on the ropes.

They were given the chance to do so by a plethora of handling errors that punctuated the visitors’ play although to be fair, both sides were equally guilty on that score in what turned into typical, end-of-season fayre.

There was nothing on the line for this game and it showed – it really did have a “let’s get this out of the way” feel.

Once again for Wire, the youngsters showed the way – Leon Hayes did little wrong on his first start and created Greg Minikin’s try with a lovely kick, Tom Whitehead showed sleight of hand to set George Williams up on debut and Luke Thomas deserved a try for another display which saw him run the ball in without a hint of self-preservation.

They can be proud of how they have handled things over the past few weeks and they have shown that the future could indeed be bright, but their emergence is perhaps one of the only things Wire fans can really shout about this year.

Finally, they can consign this most painful and tortuous of seasons to the history books but even then, it cannot just be swept under the carpet.

Lessons must be learnt from the debacle that was the 2022 campaign in every facet of the club, from top to bottom.

Having operated on a mantra that “next year will be better,” the pressure will very much be on to make it so.

Daryl Powell has staked his reputation on turning this situation around with a squad that is completely of his own making in 2023 but if things do not immediately improve, it will not take long for him to be placed firmly under the microscope.