Kristian Woolf impressed with Saints' discipline during Wigan victory
"It's tough in those situations. Rugby league has an element of aggression and there is always a bit of a fine line. The atmosphere was outstanding and that creates a bit of tension, but I thought our blokes handled themselves really well."
Friday 20 August 2021 23:14, UK
St Helens coach Kristian Woolf was delighted with his team's discipline after they comfortably beat Wigan 26-2 in a fiery derby at the DW Stadium.
Referee Chris Kendall brandished four yellow cards, two of them to Wigan's England forward John Bateman, after struggling to keep tempers in check in a match packed with all the brutality and intensity expected of a Wigan-Saints derby played in front of a Super League season's best crowd of 16,319.
The champions led 12-2 at the break courtesy of tries from Regan Grace and Lewis Dodd and added others in the second half through Mark Percival and Alex Walmsley to bounce back from their shock home defeat by Castleford and complete the double over the Warriors.
Woolf said: "It was exactly the response we wanted. We didn't play to our standards last week but I was really happy and proud of the way we turned up tonight.
"Right from the kick-off we started with terrific intensity and showed really good discipline.
"It's tough in those situations. Rugby league has an element of aggression and there is always a bit of a fine line.
"The atmosphere was outstanding and that creates a bit of tension, but I thought our blokes handled themselves really well.
"I was very happy with what we did both sides of the ball. We played some footy and backed ourselves tonight."
Woolf was particularly impressed with scrum-half Dodd, who scored an opportunist try but also held his own in defence.
"He's getting better and better every week," Woolf said. "We all know about his ability and he's getting better in terms of how he's managing a game.
"What was most impressive for a young man was the way he handled himself defensively. They threw a lot at him but he was great out there."
Wigan's only points came from a penalty by Harry Smith as they failed to score a try for the first time since they moved to the DW Stadium in 1999 and coach Adrian Lam could not hide his disappointment.
"It was a tough game," he said. "We didn't get the start we wanted and the second try hurt us.
"The second half was just a nightmare. I think the penalty count was 9-1 against us and we played half the second half with 12 players.
"I'm disappointed with our discipline. I love emotion but you've got to have intelligence with that. I thought we over-played our hand with that and it came back to hurt us.
"We attacked poorly and didn't manage the process. Every little thing we tried, we were frustrated, it was nothing like how we trained.
"I've got belief in them. I know tonight was a real disappointment but I have confidence in the group that we'll rally and get it right over the next couple of weeks. I know they feel positive about what we can do moving forward."
