Lee Briers marked his three-hundredth Warrington game with a crushing victory over top-six rivals Wakefield at the Halliwell Jones Stadium, but it was the three-quarter line of Kevin Penny, Matt King, Martin Gleeson and Chris Riley who notched up eight tries between them as the Wolves moved into fifth place.

Finally exhibiting the class of his NRL past, it was King who opened the scoring after just two minutes, Warrington working the overlap after Wakefield new boy Matt Petersen had given the home team a repeat set by failing to collect a pass for a would-be interception. In slippy conditions, however, Wakefield showed that Warrington were not to have it all their own way: Petersen did get over the whitewash after Danny Brough's break created the position on five minutes, and four minutes later prop forward Richard Moore was in the right position to take a short pass and crash in after some haphazard Warrington defending had made the space. 12-6 to Wakefield.

As the home crowd saw their team's bright start fizzle out, Briers himself joined the party. First, he made a clean break forty metres from the Wakefield line, feeding Jon Clarke who was backing up down the middle. Then, on nineteen minutes, Briers again unlocked the Wakefield defence with a long ball that found Riley for an easy walk-in. Not to be outdone, half-back partner Monaghan showed his class when he stepped through a tiring defence on twenty eight minutes and it was another mazy run from the Australian that created the impetus for a Simon Grix try in the thirty-sixth minute following a smart offload by Michael Cooper.

At 28-12, the home team seemed to have found their rhythm but Monaghan showed the frustrating side of his game when he failed to deal with the ensuing kick-off. Needing a score before half-time, full-back Blaymire provided it for Wakefield, who looked to have got themselves back into it with only a minute remaining in the half. But Warrington provided the best play of the game when a blind-side scrum move saw King send Penny tip-toeing down the touchline around a surprised Wakefield right-hand side for a sixty-metre special. At half-time, the Wolves led 34-18 with Chris Hicks converting five of their six first-half tries.

Into the second half, it seemed that one more Warrington score would put paid to any Yorkshire revival, and King's second try from Monaghan's pass appeared to provide it following some impressive build-up play. No team coached by John Kear ever throws in the towel, however, and when the tireless Brough's chip-kick was fumbled by Monaghan on fifty-six minutes, Jason Demetriou was the first to react and grab a lifeline for the Wildcats. Despite his endeavours, it simply was not Brough's day as he strived for a try that would really have ignited the game. The debutant Petersen would have had to bring his ladder along to reach first a pass and then a cross-field kick that the scrum-half aimed at his wing.

Warrington wrapped things up through a try from Gleeson, who turned up on the left side to break the Wakefield resistance on sixty-seven minutes. From then on it was one-way traffic, Monaghan's deft chip finding King, who had no difficulty finding Penny for the winger's second try. Gleeson then turned provider on the other side, drawing the defence near the Wakefield '40' to provide Riley with another comfortable run-in. Wakefield's miserable afternoon was complete when a wayward kick from Oliver Wilkes was gathered in by Vinnie Anderson who had the vision to see Penny happy to race fully 85 metres for a hat-trick try in the dying seconds.

Warrington Wolves - 60

T: King (2, 48); Clarke (11); Riley (19, 75), Monaghan (26); Grix (35); Penny (40, 69, 77); Gleeson (67)
G: Hicks (3, 12, 27, 36, 40, 49, 70, 78)

Wakefield Trinity Wildcats - 24

T: Petersen (5); Moore (9); Blaymire (39); Demetriou (56)
G: Brough (6, 10, 40, 57)

HT: 34-18
Att: 9,290