REPORT
Chris Hicks scored 30 points as Warrington Wolves made light of their own problems to pus aside fellow strugglers, Bradford Bulls by 58 points to 22 and leap frog them in the engage Super League table.
Hicks claimed three of his side’s 10 tries and kicked nine goals as the Wolves increased the pressure on a beleaguered Bradford team in a one-sided engage Super League contest at the Grattan Stadium, Odsal.
Warrington were relentless throughout the 80 minutes with Mick Higham also touching down twice on an embarrassing night for the Bulls.
Louis Anderson, Matt King, Chris Riley, Paul Johnson and Lee Briers also got on the scoresheet with the lacklustre Bulls managing just a David Solomona double and further consolations from Michael Platt and Ben Jeffries.
The two sides came into the game having laboured to just two league victories each all season but only Warrington seemed intent on improving that record.
The Wolves looked much better than a side 13th in the table as they blitzed Bradford to open up a 34-10 lead at the interval.
The early warning signs were there for the Bulls as Adrian Morley burst through a gap and was halted only by a last-ditch tackle from Dave Halley.
King was lucky to win a scrum feed after throwing a poor pass straight at Bradford’s Rikki Sheriffe but the Wolves capitalised to open the scoring after five minutes.
Anderson claimed the try as he hit Michael Monaghan’s pass at speed.
Hicks then scored his first try five minutes later after slack work by the Bulls defence.
The hosts were slow to react as Chris Bridge brilliantly flicked on a Briers pass for Hicks in the corner.
Hicks, back in his familiar wing role, grabbed his second soon after as he cut inside to finish off a move involving Briers and Ben Westwood.
Warrington were almost out of sight after just 20 minutes as Briers found space to pick out an unattended King with a high kick.
The Bulls managed to stem the flow as Solomona came off the bench to barge his way over but normal service was soon resumed.
Johnson fielded a Bradford kick and passed to Riley inside his own 10-metre line.
There seemed little danger as Riley sprinted forward but he put his pace to the test with a kick ahead and superbly won the race with Halley to gather for a length-of-the-field try.
Warrington then went on to claim a sixth try before the break through Johnson out wide.
Bradford finished the half with another try through Platt but the Wolves piled on more misery just 15 seconds after the resumption.
Sheriffe inexplicably pushed the kick-off back into his own in-goal area from the dead-ball line and the onrushing Higham slid in to score.
Solomona forced his way over for his second try soon after but it was a brief respite as Briers, on his return from injury, weaved his way through several tackles for another Wolves score.
Hicks then seized on a loose ball to race in for his hat-trick and bring up the half-century.
Higham added another as he slid through the posts to reach another piercing Warrington kick.
Jeffries pulled one back late on but many of the home fans had already left the ground.
Bradford Bulls Stats
Team
Michael Platt, Rikki Sheriffe, Paul Sykes, Semi Tadulala, Ben Jeffries, Sam Burgess, Terry Newton, Andy Lynch, Steve Menzies, Jamie Langley, Matt Cook, Michael Worrincy, Nick Scruton, Craig Kopczak, Dave Halley, David Solomona, Tom Olbison,
Tries
Michael Platt(1) Ben Jeffries(1) David Solomona(2)
Goal Attempts
Paul Sykes(4)
Goals
Paul Sykes(3)
Drop Goals
Warrington Wolves Stats
Team
Riley, Hicks, Bridge, King, Johnson, Briers, Monaghan, Morley, Clarke, Carvell, L. Anderson, Westwood, Harrison.
Subs: Higham, V. Anderson, Wood, Cooper.
Tries
C Riley 1, C Hicks 3, M King 1, P Johnson 1, L Briers 1, L Anderson 1, M Higham 2,
Goals
Hicks (9 from 10)