Sam Burgess offers Warrington Wolves injury and recruitment update

It has forced him to change his plans for tomorrow night’s friendly against Widnes Vikings with Stefan Ratchford, Rodrick Tai and Josh Thewlis all now missing the game.

A revised 22-man squad for the match has now been confirmed - check it out here

New signing Tai was set to start in the centres but has picked up a knee injury that Burgess admitted was likely to keep him out until after the season starts.

The Wire boss also confirmed the pubic bone injury that has plagued second-rower Matty Nicholson is also set to see him miss the Round One trip to Catalans Dragons on February 17 while Ratchford’s chances of being available for the game in Perpignan are rated as “50-50.”

“We had been travelling really well but we’ve had a bit of a nightmare week with injuries,” Burgess said.

“We’ve had five guys go down this week, which isn’t good.

“There’s a couple that are going to miss the first round – Rod Tai’s got a knee problem that’s going to keep him out for a while and Matty Nic is going to be out for a little while as well.

“Stef would probably be 50-50 but Josh Thewlis will probably be alright. It’s tough but it’s all part of it.”

A revised team for tomorrow’s game against the Vikings is set to be confirmed later this evening.

New signing Rodrick Tai was due to start tomorrow's friendly against Widnes Vikings but has picked up a knee injury (Image: Joe Richardson)

Warrington Wolves make captaincy decision

Speaking at the club’s pre-season media day, Burgess also confirmed Ratchford would retain the club’s captaincy for the coming season.

The club’s longest-serving player was officially promoted to the role full-time for the 2023 season having taken over from Jack Hughes.

The signing of Tai and the return of Toby King from his loan spell at Wigan Warriors means Ratchford may no longer be an automatic choice in the centre role he spent much of last season in, with his other preferred positions of full-back and half-back also well covered.

With that in mind, Burgess confirmed England captain George Williams would lead the side whenever Ratchford is not involved while also talking up the leadership skills of hooker Danny Walker.

Indeed, he labelled the Warringtonian dummy-half as a potential skipper not only of his hometown club, but of his country too.

“Stef’s captain of the club and has been for a long time, but we’re pretty lucky to have the England captain in the team as well,” Burgess said.

“We’re not short of captains – when Stef is in the team but when he’s not there, it will be George.

“I’ve not spoken to George about that but I think it’s a natural progression for him.

“We’ve got some dominant voices – I’ve been surprised with Danny Walker, I think he’s a future captain not only of his club but also his country. He’s that good.

“Captain is just a title – players follow who they want to follow.

“Players follow the person rather than the title, and we’re lucky to have some really dynamic guys in terms of leadership.”

Sam Burgess confirmed Stefan Ratchford would retain the Warrington Wolves captaincy (Image: Joe Richardson)

Burgess offers Warrington recruitment update

Burgess was also asked about the club’s recruitment, with salary cap space and an overseas quota spot being opened up by the departure of prop Sam Kasiano earlier this month.

While he is keen to replace the New Zealander in his side, however, the Wire chief is willing to bide his time and does not anticipate any business before the season kicks off.

“I don’t want to bring anyone in that isn’t of the right quality, so there’s no rush,” he said.

“I want to bring someone in that’s going to add to us, and there isn’t much space on the salary cap so it kind of limits that a little bit.

“We’ve got a quota spot but we’re not going to panic. We’ve got a great squad as it is so we’ll see how the year unfolds.”

Sam Kasiano's departure has opened up a spot on Wire's overseas player quota for 2024 (Image: Joe Richardson)