Warrington Wolves head coach Steve Price felt his side had answered their critics after they destroyed newly-promoted Leigh Centurions in a 44-12 win.
Price and his team came under fire following their dismal display in the opening-day defeat at the hands of Castleford Tigers.
But the Wolves bared their teeth with a stylish eight-try annihilation of John Duffy’s side at a sun-kissed Totally Wicked Stadium in St Helens.
Tom Lineham, Toby King and Gareth Widdop all scored twice and Jake Mamo and Ben Currie also touched down, while Stefan Ratchford weighed in with six goals.
Price beamed: “I thought it was a big improvement from last week.
“It was a totally different performance, which was pleasing.
“The start to the game was a lot better and the defence was a lot stronger as well.
“I thought my left side looked really potent and the right side showed a big improvement too.
“Leigh have got some big lads like Nathaniel Peteru and Adam Sidlow and Liam Hood likes to play on the back of that.
“But when you complete at 78%, you're always going to score tries.”
Price is in the final year of his contract at the Halliwell Jones Stadium and will head home to Australia at the end of the year due to family reasons.
He is aiming to bow out on a glorious high by helping the Wire to their first league championship for the first time since 1955.
Price singled out England playmaker Widdop for special praise, saying: “Was that Gareth’s best performance for the club?
“You could say that. Gareth is feeling really good about himself.
“He will be a really good asset to us moving forward, but it’s only round two.
“I know what kind of player Gaz is. Last year has gone and this year is all that we can control now.
“I thought it was a fantastic display and we want to keep improving as a group.
“Like I say, I was looking for a response today and we certainly got one.”
Leigh were badly beaten and their only scores came from Adam Sidlow and Ryan Brierley.
Price, meanwhile, admitted he was undecided about whether star signing Greg Inglis would make his debut in next Sunday’s Challenge Cup third-round tie with Swinton Lions.
But he revealed former Swinton star Matty Ashton would feature against his old club after he was left out against Leigh.
Price said: “The big fella (Inglis) is getting very close. Whether it's next week against Swinton he plays or the week after, we'll wait and see.
“We'll have a clearer picture in the middle of the week but Matty Ashton will play.
“The good news we came through today’s game with no injuries.”
