THE returning Lee Briers inspired Wolves to a stunning 58-22 win against Bradford at Odsal on Friday night.

Absent from his side’s last two games with a thigh strain, Briers was at the centre of a completely rejuvenated Warrington side that ran in 10 tries.

Almost everything ran through the long-serving half back and Bulls simply could not cope with his variety of passing and superb field kicking.

But it was impossible to criticise any one of the players, the squad playing like a cohesive team for the first time in a while – and with devastating effect.

Chris Hicks scored a hat-trick as part of a 30-point haul, while Chris Riley scored a contender for try of the season, racing 90 metres to touch down.

Briers wasted no time in showing Wolves what they have been missing.

Strong defence was needed before Wolves could even think about attack though.

Chris Riley spilled an early Ben Jeffries kick on his own line to give Bulls a superb platform but the rearguard held firm.

The opening try came only a few minutes later, Briers linking well with Monaghan before Ben Harrison’s decoy run allowed Louis Anderson to slip through a gap. Hicks goaled to provide a perfect start.

Errors were prevalent in the hosts’ game and when the ball was lost in contact, a scrum on halfway provided the platform for Warrington to strike again on 11 minutes.

Briers’ flat pass opened up the space and Chris Bridge offloaded for Hicks to score on the overlap, the Australian hitting the post with his conversion.

Wolves’ explosive spell continued as, just five minutes later, Briers again the creator before Hicks took a pass from Ben Westwood, cut in off his wing and stepped through a couple of tackles to score before adding the goal.

An unbelievable four-try first quarter blast was completed when Briers sent a high, hanging kick to Matt King and the centre calmly plucked the ball out of the air to touch down. Hicks converted again.

Something of a response came from Bradford when David Solomona produced a neat sidestep to score from close range.

But that was only a brief interlude in the Wolves onslaught, a piece of magic from Riley stunning the home team.

Paul Johnson claimed a Ben Jeffries kick on his own 10-metre line and beat one tackle before offloading to Riley.

The full back did the rest, stepping on the gas and kicking over the head of the turning Dave Halley before collecting to run in a spectacular 90-metre try. Hicks converted.

Bradford were stunned and Wolves sliced them open again three minutes later, the half backs again combining extremely well before King sent in Johnson on the overlap, Hicks adding the extras.

Bulls did end the half strongly though.

A stunning tackle from Louis Anderson denied Sheriffe what looked an almost certain try as the hosts piled on the pressure.

But Wolves could not hold out and the last action of the half saw Michael Platt finish a passing move in the left corner, Paul Sykes converting to leave his side 34-10 down.

A crazy six-minute spell after the interval saw both teams score twice as the game continued at a frantic pace.

Straight from the restart at the start of the second half, Rikki Sheriffe inexplicably spilled Briers’ kick while trying to keep it in bounds behind his own try line and Mickey Higham pounced on the loose ball. Hicks’ goal gave his side a 30-point lead.

But then Monaghan spilled the Bradford restart inside his own 10-metre line to set up a spell of Bulls pressure.

Wolves held out until switching off on the final tackle, allowing Solomona to quickly pick up from dummy half and dart over, Sykes converting.

Bradford looked to build on that score but gave away a silly penalty to invite Warrington back into their 20.

The visitors probed away at the defence, moving the ball well, until Briers decided to go himself, stepping off his right foot, then his left to jink over the line. Hicks’ goal restored the 30-point advantage.

And it only got better for Wolves when Briers snapped up a loose Bulls pass and his inside pass allowed Hicks to slash through the defence and complete his hat-trick.

By that time, many of the Bradford fans had seen enough and began heading for the exits as Briers orchestrated another score moments later, his grubber kick between the posts snaffled by Higham. Another Hicks goal made it 58-16.

Jeffries scored late on to cut the gap but it did nothing to lessen his side’s embarrassment.