WARRINGTON Wolves remain top of the Super League table after an imperious 62-0 defeat of Castleford Tigers at the Halliwell Jones Stadium.

Once again, Wolves were rampant in attack, barely giving the visitors a chance to build any pressure or threaten their try line. Tries flowed from start to finish, with Lee Briers, Matt King and Simon Grix all grabbing braces as Tigers watched helplessly. It was a fitting performance on a night when the club announced some good news, a new six-year deal for Halliwell Jones to continue as the stadium sponsor until 2017.

The match began at a lightening pace and with real attitude shown by both teams. There were massive hits dealt out by both sides, with Warrington coming out on top in the opening exchanges after a knock on by the Tigers. This led to the first try of the game, as Gareth O’Brien picked up the ball at first receiver and dummied over from close range for a dream start to a Super League debut. Brett Hodgson missed the goal.

But he made up for this rare mistake from the tee just minutes later, as Lee Briers produced an almost carbon copy of O’Brien’s opening try to put Wolves 10-points to the good. The stand off got the ball from Michael Monaghan at dummy half and spotted a gap in the defence to twist over the line. Again, though, it followed a Castleford handling error, with Tigers inviting pressure on themselves after failing to look after the ball.

So it proved again on 16 minutes, with Wolves gaining possession after a dropped ball and punishing the visitors with yet another try. Michael Monaghan whipped the ball out from dummy half and the ball is worked down the line until Gareth O’Brien and Brett Hodgson combine to send Matt King over in the corner. Brett Hodgson added the extras from the touchline to open up a 16-point lead for the hosts.

Tigers were struggling to threaten Wolves’ line, with Richie Mathers coming closest with a nice break that was cut short after the former Wolves full back fumbled the ball and gifted possession back to the home side. In typical fashion, Wolves punished Castleford’s generosity by scoring their fourth try of the night. Still flying from his debut Super League try in the first five minutes, O’Brien hoisted a poor high kick towards the left corner, which somehow found its way back to the young scrum half 15 metres out. But he made up for his mistake immediately, poking a clever grubber through for the on-rushing Brett Hodgson to dribble over the line between two defenders and touch down. Hodgson converted his own try and Wolves were leading 22-0 after 26 minutes.

The pressure from the home side was relentless, keeping the Tigers pinned in and forcing goal line drop-out after Lee Briers’ high kick was caught by Richie Mathers and he was forced back over the line.

Under the pressure of such an onslaught, the visitors were unable to hold out until half time. Briers landed the final blow of the half when he crossed for his second try of the evening. Receiving the ball from Mickey Higham at dummy half, his delicate grubber kick bounced back off the post and he strolls over uncontested. Hodgson added the conversion to take Wolves into half time with a 28-0 lead.

The second half picked up where the first left off, with Tigers enjoying possession no closer than Wolves’ 30 metre line and quickly falling further behind after another Hodgson move. Simon Grix supported the Australian’s break from 20 metres out and he received the ball on Hodgson’s inside shoulder to cross unopposed near the posts. He was soon on the scoresheet again, running onto dummy half Higham’s pass to battle over between two defenders. Hodgson added both goals and Wolves were cruising at 40-0.

Tigers had their heads down after what had been a bruising 50 minutes and it was not going to get any better for the visitors, as the rampant Wolves added tries nine and 10 within minutes of each other. First, Higham won the race to drop onto a long Briers grubber, that once again cut the Tigers apart from 10 metres out. This was followed less than three minutes later by Matt King’s second try, catching the ball on the wing and charging through opposite number Richard Owen to touch down in the corner. Referee Steve Ganson referred the decision upstairs and Wolves were awarded their tenth try by video referee Thierry Alibert after a short look at the tape. Hodgson kicked the first conversion, but missed the second as Wolves stretched their lead to 50 points after almost 60 minutes.

Tigers finally managed to get some possession in the following 10 minutes, camping within the Wolves 30 metre line for a few sets and building some pressure. But as Wolves had demonstrated on several nights previously this season, they were not for conceding. Defending strongly, the hosts regained possession and extended their lead yet again. Briers flicked on a pass without even bothering to catch it first, and Matt King rides his luck to put Solomona over. Briers converted.

Joel Monaghan added the final insult to the battered visitors three minutes before the final hooter, racing away after a Chris Bridge break and crossing to give Briers another easy kick. Wolves troop in to rapturous applause from the Halliwell Jones faithful, who have been spoilt with an exquisite display from Smith’s men.

Wolves: Brett Hodgson; Joel Monaghan, Chris Bridge, Ryan Atkins, Matt King; Lee Briers, Gareth O'Brien; Adrian Morley, Michael Monaghan, Garreth Carvell, Louis Anderson, Ben Westwood, Simon Grix. Subs: Mickey Higham, Paul Wood, Mike Cooper, David Solomona.

Tigers: Richie Mathers; Kirk Dixon, Ryan McGoldrick, Joe Arundel, Richard Owen; Rangi Chase, Danny Orr; Nathan Massey, Ryan Hudson, Nick Fozzard, Brett Ferres, Stuart Jones, Martin Aspinwall. Subs: Jake Emmitt, Adam Milner, Oli Holmes, Dean Widders.