SAM Burgess has confirmed he has been able to recall Max Wood from his loan spell in order to bolster Warrington Wolves’ middle unit this week.
The Wire travel to Leeds Rhinos on Friday without the services of three front-line props – Zane Musgrove and Joe Philbin both failed in-game head injury assessments during the loss to Catalans Dragons on Saturday and are ruled out under concussion protocol, while Paul Vaughan has received a two-match ban for his sin-binning during the same game.
It leaves Burgess short on numbers in the pack but he has been boosted by news that he has been able to bring Wood back into the fold.
The 19-year-old joined Bradford Bulls on a two-week loan last week and scored a try on his debut against Halifax Panthers on Good Friday. Under the usual terms of short-term loans, Warrington would not have been able to recall Wood until next week but the outcome of talks with the RFL has been a positive one for Burgess.
He also confirmed another young forward in Tom Whitehead is in contention to play at Headingley.
“We’ve managed to get Max Wood back and he’ll play this week, which is helpful,” Burgess said.
“Tom Whitehead is close as well but I’m not quite sure how the team is going to look yet.
“I’ve got to see a few different combination and we’ve still got a few niggles.
“We’ll see how we pull up after today then I’ll have a closer look at the team on Thursday.”
Another man Burgess confirmed would be in contention to step in is Joe Bullock, who made his first Wire appearance of the season in the recent win at London Broncos but has not been selected for the past two games.
The former Wigan man had a disrupted pre-season due to a knee injury and spent a brief loan spell with Hull FC earlier in the year.
While his chance may come on Friday, Burgess gave a hint as to why he may not have been in the side to date.
“Joe’s in the picture. He’s got things in his game he needs to work on and be consistent with,” he said.
“The standards here are pretty high and Joe’s challenge is to be consistent with that, but he’ll be in the picture this week.”
Warrington will not appeal the suspension handed to Vaughan, which rules him out of next weekend’s Challenge Cup trip to St Helens as well as Friday’s game, after he was cited for the tip tackle on Cesar Rouge which saw him sin-binned.
And Burgess says a review of the incident meant there was never any prospect of challenging the Match Review Panel’s ruling.
“I don’t think the evidence was in our favour,” he said.
“You read the ruling and the letter of the law and it wasn’t really favourable for us.
“The Match Review committee probably got it right – if Vaughany had his time again, I daresay he’d do things differently so we’ve just got to take the lesson and move on.”
Another man Wire are set to be without this weekend is Josh Drinkwater, with Burgess confirming he had suffered a setback in his recovery from a thigh injury.
The scrum-half has not featured since limping out of the Round Three win over Castleford Tigers but was named in the 21-man squad for the Catalans fixture.
“He’s not quite there yet. He aggravated his issue last week, which is unfortunate because I love what he brings,” Burgess said.
“He’s been training great for us, but this has just slowed him down a little bit. He’s nearly there and isn’t far off.
“He’s been great with Leon (Hayes) and George (Williams) – he sits in all of the meetings and has been a great pro to have around.”
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