WOLVES winning a penalty count 16-2? Must have been a home town referee.

The man in the middle was indeed Winwick's Phil Bentham, taking charge of Wolves in a competitive game for the first time after the introduction of a new RFL rule allowing referees to officiate matches involving their home town club.

But Catalans, who also had three players sent to the sin bin for illegally attempting to slow down the play-the-ball, could have no major complaints about the decision-making of referee Bentham.

The penalty count was no reflection on Bentham, more a seal of approval for a disciplined Wolves performance that resulted in a third win from four games this season.

Penalties had blighted Wolves' previous two matches, with Paul Cullen suggesting that indiscipline cost them at St Helens before pointing the finger at referee Ashley Klein for a number of baffling decisions at Hull KR.

At times on Sunday, Wolves' performance was as subdued as the eerie atmosphere at The Halliwell Jones Stadium. And a 16-2 penalty count in favour of the visitors would almost certainly have resulted in a Catalans victory.

But it was the French side who made the slip-ups and Wolves were comfortable winners in the end.

Being labelled a freak is not always desirable but Chris Hicks will probably not mind too much about the tag bestowed upon him by Cullen after another masterclass in finishing.

The Wolves boss hailed his new winger as freakishly strong' after Hicks first found a way past three defenders to score from close range and then floored covering defender Clint Greenshields with an astonishing fend-off to touch down again in the second half.

With such an ability to score from seemingly impossible positions, it is perhaps no surprise that Hicks is the early leader in the Super League try scoring charts with six tries in four games.

Hicks' former Manly teammate Michael Monaghan grabbed his first Wolves try and also produced a superb offload that led to Andy Bracek rounding off the scoring in the dying seconds of the match.

Stuart Reardon returned at full back but the game was soured by the sight of substitute Paul Wood - also back from a six-month injury lay-off - leaving the field six minutes into his return, clearly in agony as he clutched the same shoulder he damaged last August.

The left side of Wolves' defence proved fragile again, with all three Catalans tries scored on that flank, and Cullen's men will need to play better to beat Wigan.

But rugby league is a results business and three out of four ain't bad.

Match facts

engage Super League Round Four, March 2, 2008

Warrington Wolves 38 Catalans Dragons 18

Wolves: Stuart Reardon; Chris Hicks (2t), Martin Gleeson, Paul Johnson (1t), Kevin Penny; Lee Briers (5g), Michael Monaghan (1t); Adrian Morley, Jon Clarke (1t), Paul Rauhihi, Ben Westwood, Louis Anderson, Vinnie Anderson (1t). Subs used: Rob Parker, Paul Wood, Andy Bracek (1t), Mark Gleeson.

Catalans: Clint Greenshields (1t); Justin Murphy (1t), Cyril Stacul, John Wilson, Dimitri Pelo; Adam Mogg, Thomas Bosc (3g); Alex Chan, Aaron Gorrell, Jerome Guisset, Jason Croker, Sebastien Raguin (1t), Gregory Mounis. Subs used: Remi Casty, Jean-Philippe Baile, Julien Touxagas, Cyril Gossard.

Referee: Phil Bentham

Scoring: Briers puts Monaghan through a gap, 11mins, Briers converts, 6-0; Vinnie Anderson is fed by brother Louis after an offload from Rauhihi and a long pass from Clarke, 17mins, 10-0; Greenshields scores from Croker's offload after a possible knock-on, 23mins, Bosc converts, 10-6; Raguin takes Croker's pass to score but Monaghan felt he had been held back, 27mins, Bosc converts, 10-12; Hicks somehow gets past three defenders to score from dummy half, 40+mins, 14-12; Briers puts Martin Gleeson away and Clarke is in support, 53mins, Briers converts, 20-12; Johnson collects Louis Anderson's pass and beats Stacul, 58mins, Briers converts, 26-12; Hicks' fend-off sends Greenshields sprawling after Martin Gleeson had put him in space, 68mins, Briers converts, 32-12; Murphy touches down after Mogg's cheeky pass through the legs from dummy half, 75mins, Bosc converts, 32-18; Monaghan offloads superbly from the ground and Mark Gleeson finds the supporting Bracek, 80+mins, Briers converts, 38-18.

Sin bin: Dragons: Croker 40+mins (holding down), Wilson 57mins (holding down), Casty 62mins (holding down).

Pens: Wolves 16 Dragons 2

Scrums: Wolves 3 Dragons 7

Attendance: 9,016

Warrington Guardian top men: Hicks 3pts, Rauhihi 2pts, Martin Gleeson 1pt.

Interesting note: Westwood was making his 150th appearance for Wolves.