Warrington Wolves v Leigh Leopards, pre-season talking points

Leigh Leopards are the visitors to The Halliwell Jones Stadium for what will be both sides’ final run-out before the Super League campaign kicks off in a fortnight.

With strong teams set to be fielded by both Sam Burgess and Adrian Lam, there will certainly be a strong indication as to the shape both sides are in ahead of the new season.

Here, we examine five key talking points ahead of the match…

A hometown hero worth celebrating

First and foremost, Saturday is a day of celebration for a man who has this club and town at his very heart.

One thing you can never doubt about Joe Philbin is his commitment to not only Warrington Wolves, but the community that surrounds it.

He is someone who bangs the drum for everything Warrington and people like him deserve their moment in the sun.

Fingers crossed a decent crowd turns up on Saturday to show their appreciation for Philbin’s decade in primrose and blue.

The one-off kit Wire will wear for Joe Philbin's Testimonial match (Image: Joe Richardson)

A first real test for Burgess’ boys

While he was technically in charge for last week’s friendly against Widnes, this is the first proper test for new head coach Sam Burgess.

He has named what looks to be his strongest available side – Paul Vaughan would be in there were he not suspended while there are also a few players injured but with the exception of Vaughan and Matty Nicholson, it is the line-up you would expect to be named at Catalans in a fortnight.

Of course, nobody should expect the finished product to be on show on Saturday – what happens during this 80-minutes should not be overthought in any way – but we will at least get an indication of how well the players have taken to what Burgess is trying to bring.

So while we may not get the full picture, but we will probably get a bit of a sketch.

Sam Burgess is sending his strongest available side out to face Leigh (Image: Mike Boden)

How will new-look partnerships fare?

There will be a few new faces on show on Saturday night as Zane Musgrove, Lachlan Fitzgibbon and Sam Powell get their first run-outs in Warrington colours.

How they fit into the side will be of interest to everyone but around them, there are likely to be a few new partnerships knocking around.

It is understood George Williams and Ben Currie have been training on the right edge having played pretty much exclusively on the left, where Fitzgibbon and Toby King have been running.

These brand-new partnerships will take time to gel but like with everything else, Saturday will be at least a glimpse of how things are coming together.

Back rower Lachlan Fitzgibbon will make his first appearance in Wire colours on Saturday (Image: SWPix.com)

Can you kick it?

Stefan Ratchford finished 2023 as Super League’s leading goal-kicker, splitting the posts 96 times with a superb success rate of 86 per cent.

Of course, he will not be present on Saturday and while he remains club captain, the depth in his preferred positions mean he is no longer an automatic first-choice starter.

So then, who will fill his pretty sizeable kicking boots?

Josh Drinkwater is a proficient goal-kicker with 173 to his name for his career, but he was overlooked last year whenever an alternative to Ratchford was needed.

Peter Mata’utia often took up that mantle but he too is gone, so the other player remaining who kicked at goal last year is Josh Thewlis, who was a pretty deadly kicker during his academy days.

Leon Hayes is an excellent goal-kicker but like Ratchford is unlikely to be an automatic starter while George Williams has dabbled in the past, so it will be interesting to see the route Burgess takes.

For Saturday and beyond, Wire will have to find an alternative to the deadly accurate goal-kicking of Stefan Ratchford (Image: Mike Boden)

A rivalry that is growing?

If you asked any Warrington fan who their rivals were, eyes will automatically be drawn to Wigan, St Helens and, perhaps more historically, Widnes.

Despite their geographical proximity to each other, Leigh would be pretty far down a lot of fans’ lists but it does appear to be a rivalry that is growing, particularly on the field.

All three meetings between the sides last year – two league games and a pre-season clash – had genuine needle about them and, of course, spawned both incidents that led to Josh McGuire’s lengthy suspensions and ultimately, his departure.

While all at Warrington will be praying this game passes off without any such controversy, a repeat of that in-game intensity without straying over the line would do both sides no harm.

Wire and Leigh met in pre-season last year for Ben Currie's Testimonial match, with Warrington winning 22-10 (Image: SWPix.com)