Wolves mauled by rampant Saints

Warrington were counting the cost of the most one-sided match of Super League XII so far this season as they suffered a 48-12 defeat to a rampant St Helens.

The Wolves lost prop Paul Wood and half-backs Lee Briers and Chris Bridge to injury as they crashed to defeat, while Saints go top of the table on points difference.

"It's been a rough and tough 80 minutes and we've picked up injuries to boot," said coach Paul Cullen. "We're very disappointed the scoreline ran away from us. To compete, let alone beat, Saints you need to be at your best and at your healthiest."

He added: "We defended their early blitz really well but what we couldn't handle was the avalanche of penalties and decisions that went against us.

"We couldn't buy a decision or a penalty."

Wood suffered a recurrence of an old shoulder injury, Briers pulled a hamstring and Bridge - who only last week returned from a pulled hamstring - went off with a groin injury.

St Helens' former Australian Test centre Matt Gidley, who has experienced a slow start to his English career, made his mark with a hat-trick of tries while impressive stand-off Leon Pryce touched down twice in four minutes as the champions ran away with the match.

Gidley, the man chosen to fill the boots of 2005 Man of Steel Jamie Lyon, scored two tries and sent winger Ade Gardner over for another as Saints established a 16-0 lead.

Warrington, who had the chance to go top themselves for the first time in the Super League era, hit back briefly with two tries in four minutes through Briers and Henry Fa'afili just before the break but it was one-way traffic in the second half.

"I thought the final score flattered us a bit," said St Helens coach Daniel Anderson. "We were sloppy and got the rub of the green in the first half but in the second half we were a bit tighter and a lot more composed and patient."