Warrington Wolves 38 Leigh Leopards 20, match verdict

And yet, of their five superb victories to kick off what looks to be a promising campaign, this is the one they will probably learn the most from.

To call this game a “banana skin” would be doing a talented and confident Leigh side a bit of a disservice – there were plenty who felt this game between two in-form sides could genuinely have gone either way.

From the moment Matt Dufty swept through the line to send Josh Drinkwater away to score after just 32 seconds, however, there was only going to be one winner.

Josh Drinkwater touches down inside the first minute (Image: SWPix.com)

Even without really building any pressure on Leigh in the opening half – plenty of that was self-inflicted by attempts to over-play – they managed to rack up a 14-point half-time lead.

That if nothing else is testament to the individual firepower this team has and the first half showed they can strike from anywhere.

While the hosts were in control at the break, they were far from home and hosed and a Leigh side who clawed back a similar deficit to beat St Helens last week may have fancied their chances had they got the second half’s first score.

In just twelve minutes, however, those hopes were dashed by a purple patch that stemmed from Wire merely keeping things simple.

It was probably the only period in the game in which they sustained serious pressure on the opposition line and it yielded 16 points to effectively finish the contest.

The left edge looked incredibly dangerous – evidenced by Matty Ashton’s quickfire hat-trick of tries – and a demolition job looked to be on the cards.

Matty Ashton gets to his feet after scoring the second of his three tries (Image: Lewis Tate)

And herein lies the lesson – at 38-8 up with half an hour to go and with cries of “we want 50” ringing around the ground, the team should surely have obliged.

With such a lead, it can be natural for the cue to go in the rack and given Wire’s lung-busting efforts of late, there may have been a hint of self-preservation and slipping back into cruise control as opposed to going for the jugular.

It appeared akin to a boxer letting their punch-drunk opponent regain composure as opposed to applying the knockout blow, and allowing them to land a few shots themselves.

Going forward, Warrington will have to be more ruthless in that kind of situation but all in all, this was another pleasing night’s work.

Off the field, too, a crowd of 12,073 – a new post-Covid high – shows the fans are getting behind what they are seeing too.

As the old saying goes, “build it and they will come.”

The crowd of 12,073 was a record for a Super League game between Warrington and Leigh (Image: Lewis Tate)