SO this was what Wolves had been missing.

During two miserable defeats over Easter, Warrington fans had wondered, more in hope than anything else, if things might have been different had Lee Briers been available.

There may be no conclusive answer to that question but Briers provided an extremely persuasive argument in his favour on Friday night.

Rather than merely returning from injury, the 30-year-old half back exploded back onto the pitch to inspire Warrington’s biggest ever win at Odsal.

His variety of passing, use of runners and intelligent kicking were almost impossible to defend and the former Welsh international had a hand in eight of his side’s 10 tries.

But while he may have been the main author, this story was not just about Briers.

Chris Hicks roared back into form, scoring a hat-trick and kicking nine goals for a 30-point haul, while Chris Riley submitted an early entry for try of the season, racing 90 metres to touch down.

More importantly, this was the triumph of a cohesive team over one in disarray.

So often this season, Wolves have played the role Bulls slipped into on Friday but this was the response that came after plenty of soul-searching.

Warrington’s critics will be quick to play down the victory – ‘a bunch of traffic cones’ is a familiar phrase used to describe the Bradford team – but that would do them a real disservice.

True, nobody at the club can afford to get carried away at this early stage but for the first time this season, Wolves looked like an actual team unit.

Forwards and backs complimented each other perfectly, knitted together by Briers and Michael Monaghan in the halves.

Led by the outstanding Adrian Morley, the pack controlled the ball well and made consistent yards. With a platform like that, the halves’ job was made a lot easier.

Early tries helped too.

Both Louis Anderson and Hicks crossed within the first 11 minutes and another two scores were added before the end of the first quarter.

That momentum created a snowball effect. Confidence grew, errors decreased and the players became comfortable chancing their hand in attack.

Riley’s try eight minutes before the break highlighted that perfectly.

Paul Johnson’s role in the stunning score should not be underestimated. Taking a Ben Jeffries kick, he stepped through one tackle, powered past another and offloaded to Riley on his 10-metre line.

The full back had it all to do but he did it in true style. Stepping on the gas, he blazed down the wing, kicked over the head of the turning Dave Halley and coolly collected to touch down.

That came just five minutes after Bulls had scored their first try to provide a glimmer of hope but, from that point on, the result was never in doubt.

Just four days previous it was the Warrington fans who had left early during a 28-6 defeat to Castleford but this time it was the turn of the Bradford supporters, streaming out of Odsal a good 20 minutes before the end, while muttering obscenities in the direction of their team.

Wolves well and truly did a job on the Yorkshiremen but the challenge now is to inflict the same upon more of their Super League oppnents.

Match facts

Bradford Bulls 22 Warrington Wolves 58

Wolves: Chris Riley (1t); Chris Hicks (3t, 9g), Chris Bridge, Matt King (1t), Paul Johnson (1t); Lee Briers (1t), Michael Monaghan; Adrian Morley, Jon Clarke, Garreth Carvell, Louis Anderson (1t), Ben Westwood, Ben Harrison. Subs: Mickey Higham (2t), Vinnie Anderson, Paul Wood, Mike Cooper.

Bulls: Dave Halley; Rikki Sheriffe, Paul Sykes (3g), Michael Platt (1t), Semi Tadulala; Steve Menzies, Ben Jeffries (1t); Andy Lynch, Terry Newton, Craig Kopczak, Jamie Langley, Matt Cook, Sam Burgess. Subs: Nick Scruton, Tom Olbison, David Solomona (2t), Michael Worrincy.

Referee: Thierry Alibert

Scoring: Louis Anderson takes pass from Monaghan and uses Harrison’s decoy run to race over the line, 5mins, Hicks converts, 0-6; Briers’ flat pass releases Bridge and his offload sends in Hicks on the overlap, 11mins, 0-10; Hicks cuts in from his wing to score after taking short pass from Westwood, 16mins, Hicks converts, 0-16; King takes accurate crossfield kick from Briers to comfortably touch down, 21mins, Hicks converts, 0-22; Solomona dummies and powers over the line from close range, 27mins, 4-22; Riley takes pass from Johnson on his own 10-metre line, kicks over the head of Halley and races 90 metres to score, 32mins, Hicks converts, 4-28; overlapping Johnson takes King’s pass to score in corner after impressive combination play from the half backs, 35mins, Hicks converts, 4-34; Platt finishes a sweeping move in the left corner, 40mins, Sykes converts, 10-34; Higham touches down loose ball after Sheriffe spills while inexplicably trying to keep Briers’ kick off in bounds, 41mins, Hicks converts, 10-40; Solomona darts over the line after quick pick-up from dummy half, 46mins, Sykes converts, 16-40; Briers steps off his right foot, then his left to jink through the defence, 54mins, Hicks converts, 16-46; Briers pounces on loose pass to send Hicks slashing through the defence to score, 62mins, Hicks converts, 16-52; Higham dives on Briers' grubber kick to score between the posts, 68mins, Hicks converts, 16-58; Jeffries dummies his way past goal-line defence, 74mins, Sykes converts, 22-58.

Pens: Wolves 4 Bulls 4

Attendance: 8,643

Warrington Guardian top men: Briers 3pts, Morley 2pts, Hicks 1pt.

Interesting note: Wolves first away win since a 19-18 victory at Huddersfield nine months ago.