LONDON: St Helens head coach Keiron Cunningham admitted it was good to have Luke Walsh back after the former Penrith Panther helped his side end a three-game losing run.
Reigning Super League champions St Helens began their title defence with six straight victories but had seen their season stall after defeat by Hull KR was followed by Easter losses to Wigan and Hull FC.
And when Leroy Cudjoe crossed for Huddersfield Giants and Danny Brough knocked over a penalty, that run looked like continuing.
But St Helens drew level through a converted Jordan Turner try before Walsh marked his return from nine months out injured by coolly slotting a drop goal.
Travis Burns went on to secure an 11-8 victory with a late penalty but Cunningham was full of praise for the returning Walsh.
"It was a real scrappy game, like an old school dogfight up the middle," said Cunningham. "There wasn't much skill or entertaining stuff going on and we just had to grind it out.
"Walshy did what Danny Brough has done all his life and brought us home and I was really pleased with him on his return," he added.
"We weren't very smart but true determination, grit and togetherness got us through.
"It wasn't the greatest game but we'll take the points and it was good to see Walshy back."
Meanwhile, Warrington coach Tony Smith insisted he will keep his feet firmly on the ground despite watching his side run in 14 tries in an 80-0 rout of Wakefield Trinity.
Richie Myler scored a hat-trick and Stefan Ratchford helped himself to a personal tally of 28 points as Warrington put four consecutive losses firmly behind them.
Winger Gene Orsmby, Toby King and Ben Currie all celebrated try doubles with Daryl Clark, Ben Westwood and former NRL stars Ashton Sims and Joel Monaghan also getting in on the act in the one-sided affair.
"We are not going to get carried away, if you look back it happens to a lot of teams after Easter that teams can get flattened," Smith said.
"All we can do is do our job and I thought we did it very well with some changes and some people who came in and did a really strong job.
"I feel for our opponents, it's been tough old weekend for them and that's what you get after Easter sometimes.
"They've been battered to pillar to post and are down to the bare bones and it's tough to keep picking yourself off the ground unless you've got a strong outfit.
"We got beaten over the weekend but we didn't get bashed and knew we could go back to hard work and work things through, while our opponents know their limits and we got them at a great time."
Elsewhere, Widnes head coach Denis Betts refused to blame his side's gruelling schedule as they followed defeat at Catalans Dragons with a disappointing 22-8 loss at Hull.
"There's no good moaning about it," said ex-Auckland Warriors second row Betts. "Somebody has got to do this, but it's tough.
"We've had some great crowds on Good Friday and Easter Monday. Is that why we do it? Of course it is. But the knock-on effect from these three games for us will bleed into the next two or three weeks unless we do the right thing."
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