Smith pleased to grind out win

Warrington coach Tony Smith praised his side's character as they ground out a 23-10 victory over Bradford at a wet Odsal to maintain their unbeaten record in Stobart Super League.

The brave Bulls blunted the traditional free-flowing rugby of the Wolves, who were forced to work surprisingly hard for their fourth win of the season, which puts them three points clear of defending champions Leeds, their next opponents at Headingley on Friday.

"With a lot of weight of possesion, they made us work and it was really good for our development. My players are in there very proud of themselves," Smith said. "With what was thrown at us by our opponents and couple of injuries, I thought the spirit and character of the boys was enormous."

"Bradford were terrific," added Smith. "I thought they played their best game this season.

"I thought we were excellent, I'm really, really happy with them. This team has been known for being able to score points but the character we showed there tonight was unbelieveable."

Warrington went into the game without hooker Michael Monaghan and second rower Ben Westwood through injury and lost veterans Lee Briers and Brett Hodgson for long periods, which forced Smith to re-shuffle his side.

The crucial try was scored by centre Ryan Atkins, who went 80 metres early in the second half to bring up a century of career touchdowns and maintain an impressive record against his old club with his 11th try in six meetings.

"He was terrific," Smith said. "He's getting better. He produced a great performance last week and backed it up with some big moments tonight."

Smith declined to comment on alleged use of the elbow by Warrington's former Bradford centre Chris Bridge on stand-off Ben Jeffries but Bradford coach Mick Potter said he was surprised referee Thierry Alibert did not put the incident on report.

"I'm not sure what went on there," Potter said. "I'll leave that to the officials."