First-half tries from Richie Barnett and Vinnie Anderson and four goals from the deadly boot of Lee Briers gave Warrington a hard-fought win at Wigan.

Much had been made in the build-up to the game about Trent Barrett making his first appearance in a Wigan shirt, but the former St George-Illawarra star was well-shackled by a solid Warrington defence in front of 21,693, a record attendance for the opening round of Super League.

But in the kind of horrible wintry conditions that makes summer rugby such a welcome concept, the Wolves edged a hard-fought encounter in which both packs more than earned their money, despite Mark Calderwood and David Vaealiki crossing for the Warriors.

Wigan had emphasised the importance of starting well after the woeful start to last season set the tone for much of what followed.

But Pat Richards knocked on from Wigan's first touch of the football, handing the initiative well and truly to the Wolves.

Sean O'Loughlin was then penalised later in the set which allowed Briers to kick the visitors into a two-point lead.

But the Wolves were handed an early setback when stand-off Chris Bridge had to leave the field with a torn hamstring.

A clever kick from Thomas Leuluai made Warrington drop out for the second time in the opening stages, and Briers failed to kick the ball the required 10 yards which saw Richards tie up the scores at 2-2.

From the kick off, though, Wigan were penalised for not playing the ball properly, only for Briers to slice his penalty attempt wide from in front of the posts.

Richards' resultant drop-out soared an impressive 50 metres and allowed Paul Rauhihi to get up a real head of steam, but a massive hit from O'Loughlin dislodged the ball to put Wigan again on the front foot.

Referee Steve Ganson then showed a red card to Wolves assistant coach Gary Chambers for passing messages to his troops, as defences remained on top and both sides struggled to control the ball in increasingly difficult handling conditions.

But the Wolves hit the front again 11 minutes before half-time when Paul Johnson put Barnett in at the corner, and Briers added to the bemusement of his earlier miss by stroking over a beautiful conversion from the touchline to make it 8-2.

Wigan were then penalised for being offside at a scrum in front of their own posts, and quick hands allowed Anderson to cross in the right-hand corner for his side's second try.

The Wolves were denied a third try a couple of minutes after the restart when Wigan allowed a towering kick from Briers to bounce and Anderson claimed the score, only for the video referee to rule otherwise.

The decision gave Wigan heart and they crossed for their first try of the campaign after 47 minutes when Calderwood just beat Barnett to catch O'Loughlin's kick and touch down in the corner.

The Wolves then suffered another blow when Adrian Morley had to leave the action with a suspected damaged eye socket after a clash of heads with Wigan youngster Eamon O'Carroll.

However, two penalty goals from Briers either side of the hour mark extended the visitors' lead to 16-6 with time running out.

The Warriors' cause was not helped when they suffered their own injury woe, Bryan Fletcher having to be helped from the field after picking up a knock to his right leg.

Vaealiki gave his side a lifeline when he took Mickey Higham's basketball pass to score in the corner with six minutes remaining, but another missed goal from Richards kept the deficit at a converted try.