DESPITE watching his Warrington Wolves side record another memorable victory, Sam Burgess remains steadfast in his refusal to get carried away.
However, he revelled in his side's discipline and willingness to stick to the gameplan he gave them as they emphatically hammered neighbours Wigan Warriors.
A 40-4 thrashing at the Brick Community Stadium allowed The Wire to bring Wigan's 17-match unbeaten run on home soil to an end, while gaining a measure of revenge for their Challenge Cup Final defeat last month.
It was also the first time they had beaten Wigan since September 2021 - a run stretching back seven matches.
Here is everything Burgess had to say to the media post-match...
Q: How special was that?
SB: It was a good night and a good win for us.
I won’t say it was special – of course it was good to get the win but we’re not getting carried away with ourselves. We understand they’ve got a couple of guys out who are key to their game.
I accept that but I thought we were really disciplined to stay with our game plan. I’m more pleased with that than anything else.
I think we took a step forward in terms of our game management today.
Q: You set the tone from the very first tackle in forcing a knock-on which came from Luke Yates – that was some performance from him, wasn’t it?
SB: He’s been a breath of fresh air and has been great for us.
He loves the physical side of the game and I think he started the game with great intent.
He’s such a great guy and the lads love him already. I’m really grateful he’s part of our team.
Q: Was starting him in the front row a “fight fire with fire” sort of thing? They’d lined up like they were going to come hard at you through the middle?
SB: Not really – Jimmy Harrison was suspended so he was the next man up.
He’s great defensively so he was probably the most logical option with Jimmy out.
He’s a starter every day of the week – he’s come from being the captain at Huddersfield so it’s nothing new for him.
Q: How do you feel your middle unit coped overall? Man-for-man you were probably giving a fair bit away in there but you seemed to stand up well?
SB: They did their jobs. It was simple in so many ways but you can overcomplicate it.
On the ball, they played their roles and ran the ball in hard.
Wigan were physical tonight and they controlled us quite a bit in the first half with some field position.
Harry Smith is a great kicker of the ball and he put us in some bad spots. We had to take our medicine but I was happy they stuck at it for the whole game.
Q: 28 of your 40 points came from academy graduates, which must make you really proud?
SB: The club with Gary Chambers leading up has put so much energy into our junior system.
It’s great some of the players are getting their opportunities and taking them. The club’s in a great position in that regard and there’s some great kids coming through that we’ve all got our eyes on.
It’s motivating for them to see the likes of Arron Lindop come through. He’s the youngest in there and he’s taking his opportunities
Q: People are going to give you rave reviews for the performance – would you accept them?
SB: We’re happy with the performance, don’t get me wrong.
I also accept they’ve got a few guys out in key positions – if we lost players in those positions, we’d struggle but you’ve still got to come here and get the job done. That’s what I’m pleased with.
We’ve lost to Wigan twice this year so it was nice to come here and get the two points.
Q: How much have you progressed since your last loss, do you feel?
SB: We’re always trying to step forward as a group.
We weren’t brilliant in some of the games we’ve won but we got the two points, and I’m always happy to win.
That’s why I’m really pleased tonight with our ability to be disciplined in the game. We had a great belief in what we were doing.
That shows we’ve moved forward.
Q: Playing Arron Lindop on the left edge having played on the right wing – how versatile is this kid?
SB: I think I’ve said before, I think he’s genuinely a world-class player.
He’s only young and I don’t want to put any pressure on him, but he plays left and right.
I don’t think he ever thought of himself as a right-sided player but I ask him to do something and he just does it no questions asked.
That’s the sign of a great player.
Q: How much detail goes into the day-to-day with someone like Arron?
SB: We’ve got a great staff – Martin Gleeson works on the attack but I know he’s very close to Rich Marshall on his defence from his time coming through the academy.
He’s in our system now – he did half of the pre-season with us and then he had college in the middle of the year, so he’s only been full-time with us for about eight weeks.
It’s frightening where he might get to after a couple of full-time years, but I really liked his discipline to want to finish his schooling.
That was important to him, we respected that and now he’s full-time, we see him gradually getting better.
He’ll have days where he dips and that’s okay – he’s only a young lad and he’s got some great times in front of him.
I trust him – it’s that simple. He’s a great kid and that’s really what it’s all about.
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