St Helens made an emphatic statement on Friday by thrashing Warrington Wolves 38-12 in the battle of Super League's top two.

Both teams came into the game having won eight of their nine games in 2019, while the Wolves had also triumphed in memorable fashion on their previous visit to the Totally Wicked Stadium, Tom Lineham's late try sending them through to the 2018 Grand Final, which they went on to lose.

Last October's meeting was a tense and tight affair, but Saints were totally dominant on this occasion, out-scoring their opponents six tries to two.

After an early penalty from Lachlan Coote, Blake Austin pounced on a loose ball to score his seventh try in three games, with Stefan Ratchford's conversion putting the Wire 6-2 up.

That was as good as it got for Steve Price's men, though, as Mark Percival, Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook and Jonny Lomax all crossed for Saints - the latter two tries coming with Warrington's Mike Cooper in the sin-bin.

Daryl Clark dummied his way over early in the second half to give the Wolves hope, but it was soon wiped out as the outstanding hosts claimed further scores through Matty Lees, Regan Grace and Tommy Makinson.

Saints are now two points clear at the top of the table, while their fierce rivals Wigan Warriors' miserable campaign continued with another defeat on Friday. The Warriors were beaten 30-20 by Wakefield Trinity.