Everything Sam Burgess said on Warrington Wolves’ loss, Super League’s Las Vegas future and Chris Kendall

Warrington Wolves fell flat on the big stage in Las Vegas as they lost 48-24 against Wigan Warriors at the Allegiant Stadium.

Here’s what Sam Burgess had to say after the game.

Sam, give us your thoughts on that one…

It was pretty disappointing. It was 48 points too many. It’s the first time since I’ve coached these players that we were out of the game, we’ve always been in the game and always in touching distance. Wigan were pretty classy and probably put us to bed in the first half.

What do you put it down to, was it Wigan just playing well?

I think a bit of both, I thought they played great. We’ll probably need to have a good look at it again to see what we can put it down to. We missed far too many tackles and there was a lot of good stuff at the back end but it was a little too late. We’ve got a couple of things to learn as a group if we want to move forward so we’ll take plenty out of that.

Is this going to be a big test of you as a head coach?

No, I’ll be alright. The boys will be alright. There was good things out there and it’s not like it’s happening every week. It’s been 18 months and it’s the first time we’ve had that scoreline so I won’t be throwing the baby out with the bathwater. We just address it like we do after any win or loss and look at where we can improve what might be breaking us down and fix that as we go.

If Toby King’s try had counted, could it have been a different game?

The first couple of tries in the game were fraction tries. It was a tough call for King’s to get taken away but did it impact the game? No. It was 48 points conceded. I thought theirs were really tight tries, it was a 50/50 call in the corner I thought Matt Dufty made a great defensive play and that was a tough one, it was very very close. These are moments, they had the ball bouncing off a players’ chest it goes forward and the other one with the kick and the knock back. The first three tries were all 50/50 moments, we just didn’t grab those moments. We’re not making excuses, there’s a lot of things we can work on we got a great lesson in competing in the big stage today.

Are you hopeful that the Super League game can become a fixture in Vegas?

Yeah I’d hope so, I think it’s been a great success for the game in general in terms of exposure, especially the English game. Barring the result the players have had a great week, they’ve taken to everything with great energy and enthusiasm. The NRL have put on a great show and we’ll stay involved, Super League.  We’d certainly like to come back and have another crack but I’m sure a few other teams will want to come here next year.

Did your late arrival have an impact?

People who look for excuses could say that but I don’t think the players were affected what so ever. It’s not ideal but I don’t think it makes too much of a difference, we had a lot of time to prep and a lot of time together.

What to make of the crusher on Lachlan Fitzgibbon in the first half?

I think he’d forgotten his whistle in the first half. We all want the game to flow but putting something on report that’s not a penalty, I don’t know how that works, there was clearly some foul play in there. It cost Lachie Fitz, he couldn’t finish the game.

Wigan Warriors v Warrington Wolves player ratings as 4 score 9/10 in Las Vegas masterclasshttps://t.co/01DGdbULv5

— Serious About Rugby League (@SeriousAboutRL) March 1, 2025