Review of Warrington Wolves fans' forum with Sam Burgess

The new Wire head coach took questions from supporters at a fans’ forum at The Halliwell Jones Stadium alongside new signing Zane Musgrove, Testimonial man Joe Philbin and director of rugby Gary Chambers.

Our Wire reporter Matt Turner was in the room to hear what Burgess had to say and brings us some key observations…

New boss still careful to manage expectations

As was the theme of his introductory press conference last month, Burgess steered clear of making grand statements.

He did, however, have a simple answer to a question about the goal he has set himself for the year ahead – “I came here to win – that’s my target.”

He was keen to stress that the main goal both now during pre-season and when the season starts was continual improvement, particularly stressing that there should not be grave concern if friendly matches do not go to plan.

There was one line that people may choose to jump on – “I won’t give you all of the grand plans because quite frankly, I don’t have one – that’s just me being honest.”

Of course, that line in isolation may provoke alarm but it formed part of a wider message that, for now, his desire is to instil the very basics and build from there.

Chief executive Karl Fitzpatrick did make a promise, however.

"What I can promise you is that, with these two guys (Burgess and Chamber) at the helm, is that we will have a team you will be proud of," he told the room.

"A team that reflects what you and we are about, what our community is about – loyal, hard-working and committed.

"I can promise you a team that will reflect and represent what you guys are about."

Sam Burgess during pre-season training (Image: Joe Richardson)

A slight hint at a style of play

In much the same vein, Burgess is keeping his cards close to his chest when it comes to how things might look on the field.

That will only start to really be brought together when the likes of George Williams and Danny Walker return to full training, so the first-choice spine can be in place.

However, he did hint at a couple of plans on both sides of the ball, particularly when asked about his plans for scrum-half Josh Drinkwater, who came in for plenty of criticism from supporters for his displays in 2023.

“We’ve put in a new attacking system that suits what we have,” Burgess said.

“It will free Josh up to play to his strengths while also giving George Williams opportunities on both sides of the field, Matt Dufty as well.

“We’ve also got an exciting young half in Leon Hayes, who has been exceptional in pre-season.

“There’s great competition there but Josh has been training really well, so I think we’ll see him playing some better rugby.”

Defensively, “aggressive but connected” was how Burgess described his desired system and as a whole, he is demanding consistency.

“Our brand of rugby will look a certain way – you’ll know what a Warrington Wolves style looks like and it will be a standard that is demanded each week,” he said.

“By the time we get to the back end, we have to be able to do the same job we’ve done all year.”

Burgess hopes his new attacking system will suit scrum-half Josh Drinkwater (Image: Joe Richardson)

The resilience question

Are the Warrington Wolves players strong enough mentally? There are plenty of supporters and even former head coaches that would answer in the negative.

It was certainly a criticism fired at his players by Daryl Powell a few times during his tenure and the poor handling of adversity was a key theme that ran through his ultimately unhappy time at the club.

Naturally, then, plenty of supporters were keen to know how Burgess planned to change that with a group that is largely similar.

“Resilience comes from self-belief,” he answered.

“We’ve put a programme together where we’ve exposed the players to difficult circumstances and expect them to execute under that pressure and fatigue. All of the elements you’d expect in a big game minus the crowd.

“We expose them to that as much as we can, we see them respond and then we try and educate and repeat that process.

“Over time, what that should do is build belief and once you have that, you start to go in the right direction.

“There’s no point putting on all of these nice plays if you don’t truly believe in yourself or your teammates.

“The exposure to pressure and fatigue and still being able to execute tells you you’re ready. When the moment comes, we have to be ready to take it rather than it taking us.”

The mental fortitude of the Wire squad was heavily criticised during 2023, including by former head coach Daryl Powell (Image: PA Wire)

‘Exceptional’ Wrench ‘holding a shirt’ in centres

The centres was a key recruitment priority for The Wire having sorely lacked in that position during 2023 and as such, they now have considerable depth.

Connor Wrench and Stefan Ratchford remain from last year, but Toby King is back from his Super League title-winning loan spell at Wigan while PNG international Rodrick Tai is also an option – both are set to start training on Monday - as is former St Helens youngster Wesley Bruines.

In addition, academy graduate centres Zac Bardsley-Rowe and Arron Lindop are said to be impressing during first-team training.

It presents a key selection dilemma for Burgess and while he insisted no firm decisions had been made, the training displays of homegrown youngster Wrench had put him in the driving seat.

“It’s a great problem to have. Last year, it’s probably where the team lacked a bit of punch or at least that’s what I understood,” he said.

“Now we’ve got a plethora of players to choose from in that position.

“Connor has been exceptional in pre-season, so we’ve got to think he’s holding a shirt for now but there’s nine weeks before Round One.

“The team will find itself out – I’ve got an idea of what the team might look like, but a lot of things can change.

“The centre position is hot right now – we’ve got a lot of depth there and it will create a lot of debate.”

With Zane Musgrove also tipping him up as the man who has impressed him the most in training, Wrench is clearly making an impression.

Burgess also talked up the impression Jordy Crowther has made on him when asked whether an ambitious play to sign England international Victor Radley could be on the cards.

“That bloke is fit as a fiddle and competes like no other, but he’s got great hands and ball-playing ability,” he said of the former Wakefield man.

“I think Jordan Crowther is pretty special and is in for a big year.”

No more news to come

One thing Burgess was firm on was recruitment, and that there would be no more in either direction as things stood.

That may not come as much of a surprise given Wire’s overseas quota is full and salary cap space is at a premium, but Burgess’ words gave certainty with only a little room for manoeuvre.

“We’re settled – the team will be as it is now,” he said.

“Nothing will change unless a player comes to me and asks to leave. We’ve got 33 players in the squad, which is plenty to get through a season.

“From my point of view, there will be no more ins and outs.”

A clear plan for friendlies

While it is yet to be officially confirmed, Warrington are believed to be facing Widnes Vikings and Leigh Leopards at home in their two pre-season friendlies.

The latter will act as Joe Philbin’s Testimonial match and will be the final trial game two weeks before the Round One trip to Catalans Dragons.

Burgess made clear that game would see what he considers to be his strongest team take the field, with the first friendly reserved for younger players.

He specifically mentioned prop Joe Bajer, hooker Ben Hartill and centres Arron Lindop and Zac Bardsley-Rowe as players who are likely to get a run-out.

Army camp to help decide captaincy

Burgess insisted no decisions had been made about who the team’s on-field leader will be in 2024, with Stefan Ratchford currently in post.

However, he says next week’s military camp to round off their pre-Christmas training block will play a big role in making up his mind.

“Stef has been the captain for a number of years now, but we’ve got some dynamic young leaders coming through,” Burgess said.

“I think the army camp will highlight who will be the best captain moving forwards, so I haven’t quite made that decision.”

Stefan Ratchford is the current Warrington Wolves captain (Image: Warrington Wolves)