Bulls v Wolves: Teams
Warrington Wolves put their unbeaten Stobart Super League record on the line against Bradford Bulls on Saturday.
Last Updated: 02/03/12 11:54am
Early pacesetters Warrington Wolves put their unbeaten Stobart Super League record on the line against Bradford Bulls on Saturday.
Tony Smith's charges go into the clash having accrued seven points from their opening four games of the season, the latest a 42-10 thrashing of Hull KR.
But the 2011 League Leaders Shield winners will not find it easy against a resurgent Bulls side who beat Wakefield 36-18 last time out to record their second Super League victory of the season.
Bulls coach Mick Potter hopes his side can build on the Wildcats triumph against the Wolves.
Impossible
He told the club's official website: "I thought we got better and better and if the game had gone on longer I think we would have scored even more points.
"We are hoping we can take that into this week because we'll need to be confident, we'll need to play and we'll need to counteract what they throw at us."
Asked what the biggest challenge will be when they take on the Wolves, he replied: "Not allowing them to offload and if they do offload it then making them do something they don't really want to do.
"It will be impossible to stop 100 per cent but forcing them into errors when they do offload the ball is what we have to aim for and making sure we don't give them cheap field position so that we can build some pressure on them.
"If we start making errors or over playing, then it plays right into their hands and they will punish us by either scoring tries directly or putting us right down our end of the field and putting us under immense pressure.
"We need to be mindful of that and striking that balance will be really important for us."
Manase Manuokafoa could be in line for his Bulls debut after being named in Potter's squad for the clash.
Atkins milestone
He replaces Chev Walker - who hasn't recovered from a hamstring injury he picked up in the last training session before the Wakefield game - in the only change to the 19-man squad from last week's victory.
For Warrington, Michael Monaghan has had surgery to clean up cartilage in both knees and misses out, but Smith is hopeful he will be fit again in time to make the trip to Leeds next Friday.
Micky Higham missed out on the final 17 against the Robins but is now fully fit after an elbow problem and replaces Monaghan while Simon Grix is recalled to the squad after a medial ligament tear.
Saturday's game could see centre Ryan Atkins reach a personal milestone as he is just one try away from his career 100.
The Wolves will be attempting to repeat their success of last season when they posted a 58-14 win over Bradford from their trip to Odsal before backing that up with a 64-6 home triumph.
Bradford squad: Kear, Diskin, Lulia, Whitehead, L'Estrange, Burgess, Crookes, Addy, Hargreaves, Sammut, Kearney, Kopczak, Platt, Langley, Scruton, Bateman, Joseph, Jeffries, Manuokafoa.
Warrington squad: Atkin, Blythe, C. Bridge, Briers, Carvell, Cooper, Grix, Higham, Hill, Hodgson, McCarthy, J. Monaghan, Morley, Myler, Ratchford, Riley, Waterhouse, Westwood, Wood.