Sky Sports pundit Jon Wilkin has explained one key reason for Sam Burgess’ positive impact at Warrington Wolves.
The Wolves finished sixth in the league last year, despite looking like early-season title contenders.
However, this year, with Sam Burgess in his first season as a head coach, they have certainly held their own with the top two all the way through the regular season.
Now, a semi-final with Hull KR is all that’s in their way ahead of a potential Super League Grand Final.
They certainly seem to be a different prospect to previous iterations of Warrington Wolves, and Jon Wilkin has suggested why.
“Aura” – Why Sam Burgess has been so good for Warrington Wolves
Credit: Paul Currie/SWpix.com
Speaking on Sky Sports’ The Bench podcast with Jon Wilkin and Jenna Brooks, Wilkin said: “Not everybody is naturally confident, and not everybody is as confident as others in the team.
“When you have some people in the team, they inherently carry confidence with them. Confidence is something that you give off. People need that, they thrive on it. People who aren’t naturally confident can feel your confidence and take from it.
“I’ve seen it this year at Warrington. Sam Burgess has gone in there, and his confidence and his belief has been absorbed by the likes of Matt Dufty, Ben Currie. So when you have somebody who has got an aura about your ability, same with Mitchell Pearce, a real confidence that he’s got the ability – that lifts other people more than you can.
“That self-assured nature of not flapping, of dealing with adversity, it’s infectious. When some people are individually playing well, that gives the rest of the team confidence.”
Burgess certainly has the pedigree to be that kind of influence, being an NRL Premiership winner, an NRL Team of the Decade member and in the NRL Hall of Fame.
Now, he’ll look to add the Super League Grand Final to his long list of honours.
