SAM Burgess was full of praise for the courage and togetherness shown by his Warrington Wolves players in beating St Helens.
The Wire won 24-10 at the Totally Wicked Stadium - their first Super League win over their neighbours in more than three years - despite having James Harrison sent off after just 20 minutes.
They were already 12-0 up at that stage and despite Saints closing the gap to two points, the visitors stretched away late on to seal a memorable victory and complete a league-and-cup double over Paul Wellens' side.
Watch some of what he had to say below
Here is everything Burgess had to say post-match...
Q: Given the circumstances, does that win sit above all of the others for you?
SB: Yeah, it’s a fair win and I’m really proud of the guys for their effort and commitment to each other.
I thought we really played hard for each other and dug in. When we got the red card, I thought it would be a tough night but we were 12 points up.
Some of their efforts were unbelievable and we’ll take a bit out of it for sure.
Q: You speak a lot about the pre-season you had – that grind you went through together, did that set up and create wins like tonight?
SB: It obviously gets you into a position of belief.
They showed a lot of care for each other out there tonight – more than I’ve seen all year. They’ve shown care in so many other ways.
We lost Stef with a really bad facial fracture before the half and it really wasn’t good to see that at half-time.
The boys got together and rallied around it a bit – they made a bit of a pact that they were going to get the job done for Stef.
That was a nice moment and they delivered on their word. They’ll enjoy that.
Q: The red card pretty much cut you down in your prime, didn’t it? You were looking very lively before that?
SB: It did – it was such a big call.
He was going to play on at one point, but a couple of people told someone to stay down.
The other guy played on so he didn’t get concussed. It was our player that got concussed.
I don’t know what they were saying on the comms but it was big guy on big guy. If that’s a red card…I don’t know…
Q: Where did that second wind come from to get yourself over the line when it looked like Saints may just overhaul you late on?
SB: I don’t know. I really don’t.
I don’t want to sit here and complain but with the calls, we really didn’t get much go our way. We didn’t have anything go our way, in fact.
We were already down to 12 and you’d think he’d started reffing both sides equally but I didn’t feel it was that way.
They were all over us at the ruck, we were slightly slower and it was six-again straight away. I think it was 6-1 for six-agains – he gave us one with two minutes to go.
We did all of that despite being on the other side of the calls. It makes the win a bit better but let’s hope those decisions and cards don’t end up making or breaking some of the big games at the back end of the year.
Q: Rodrick Tai is probably your only surviving centre now but he got player of the match tonight – it was a really “coming of age” performance from him, wasn’t it?
SB: He’s been pretty consistent over the past 10 weeks or so.
I thought everyone was good – it’s hard to single anybody out. George (Williams) and Duff (Matt Dufty) dragged us through a couple of moments, Danny Walker and Sam Powell controlled us through the middle.
Everyone had to put their hand up tonight. They did it short on numbers and it was a really courageous performance.
Q: What was the thinking behind starting with Sam Powell instead of Danny Walker?
SB: We just wanted to change it up a bit.
We thought it was going to be a really physical start and we felt Danny had that bit of speed that may have come into play at the back end of the first half and into the second.
It obviously didn’t work out that way – getting a red card after 20 minutes changes all your plans!
They’re both really versatile for me and can get a job done in a few positions.
Q: How do you feel Luke Yates went on his debut?
SB: I thought he was brilliant – exactly how I thought he was going to be.
He competes and he fits straight in. He made a couple of big tackles and worked his backside off on every play.
He never stops moving and tidies up a lot of stuff. He was really good on debut.
I thought Saints were courageous – they’re so thin on numbers it’s untrue.
Q: Was that a statement win, do you think?
SB: I don’t know about that.
Our players will certainly take confidence out of it and take some more belief.
Q: Do you think people will watch that and think “maybe they’re the real deal?”
SB: It’s too early for that.
I imagine people will be impressed but we’re not doing it to impress others. We’re doing it for each other.
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