Warrington Wolves cemented their hold on second place in the Engage Super League and exorcised the demons of losing to Leeds Rhinos last week with a workmanlike win over Crusaders RL in Wrexham.



The Wolves went over six times as they stayed ahead of third-placed St Helens at the top of the ladder.



Boss Tony Smith made three starting changes from the side which lost a thriller at the Halliwell Jones Stadium last weekend to the Rhinos which ended their four-match run of Engage Super League victories.



Richie Myler came in at scrum-half, with Paul Wood at prop and Vinnie Anderson going in at loose forward.



Crusaders coach Brian Noble was able to draft rugby union convert Gareth Thomas into the centre for his 13th match of the season after a fortnight out with a groin injury suffered against Bradford Bulls.



Warrington took just under two minutes to make their first mark on the match when the ball was spun wide for Richie Mathers to supply wing Chris Hicks with the try run-in.



The Wolves went hunting for their second try but, when they made handling errors in the home half, the Crusaders took advantage.



Wing Nick Youngquest ran through a couple of gaps early on but, when he picked up the ball on his own 10-yard line, he pinned his ears back and raced 60 yards through the Wolves defence for a spectacular touchdown.



Tony Martin nearly finished off another dash downfield, this time by Rhys Hanbury, before he was stopped two yards from the Warrington line.



But worryingly for Noble, Thomas lasted just 18 minutes before his groin problem flared up again and it did not look too good either which does not bode well for the 100-times capped union star's immediate future.



The Wolves moved ahead when Hicks latched onto a Lee Briers grubber kick to just touch down before the ball went dead, and powerful Garreth Carvell offloaded to big Samoan David Solomona which Briers converted and sent the Wolves in 14-4 ahead.



As much as the Crusaders tried, they could not get within striking range as Briers marshalled his troops well in defence and two tries inside seven second-half minutes, from Mickey Higham and Chris Riley, put Warrington in firm control and all-but sealed the win.



The Welshmen did hit back when half-back Hanbury twisted and turned to sneak in by the posts, giving full-back Clinton Schifcofske a simple conversion and they got the crowd roaring again when Martin had another dash towards the Warrington defence but that was more all less it.



Riley went over for the sixth touchdown on the hooter just to finish things off for the Wolves.