Warrington Wolves completed a comfortable win over Hull FC on Friday night. The Wire won the game 24-6, thanks to 20 points from winger, Josh Thewlis, including a hat trick of tries. However, an altercation between Sam Burgess and Richie Myler overshadowed the result.
Warrington head coach, Burgess, was seen barging into Richie Myler, Hull FC’s Director of Rugby, in the tunnel after the game. After the game, Burgess explained that an error with Warrington’s team sheet had occurred. This led to the Wolves losing an interchange for the game. Hull FC rejected a request to amend their named squad, causing tension between the two sides.
RFL explain Warrington Wolves teamsheet issue
Credit: Imago Images
Serious About Rugby League can now exclusively reveal the sequence of events that led to Warrington losing an interchange after contacting the RFL for clarification on the incident. They confirmed that it was Adam Holroyd was at the centre of the teamsheet confusion before explaining the timeline of events.
Holroyd was not included in the 21-man squad which Warrington submitted on Wednesday, in spite of the fact Warrington’s social media feeds showed Holroyd as in the squad.
Instead, the initial 21 man squad that the RFL received named Connor Wrench in the line-up with Holroyd seemingly replacing Wrench at some point between Wednesday and Friday’s game. It appears that from Warrington’s, and certainly Sam Burgess’, point of view that they always assumed Holroyd was named in the 21-man squad. Therefore come Friday night when they tried to name him in their squad, the issue arose.
Discussions are now ongoing between the Wolves and the RFL. Both sides want to understand how and when Holroyd was included in the squad. A decision was made for Warrington to lose an interchange due to the error. This is in line with a similar incident which occurred in Round Two . Castleford Tigers lost an interchange in their game against Salford Red Devils.
Sam Burgess furious after Wolves victory
Credit: Imago Images
Speaking after the game, Burgess shared his disappointment with the decision to remove an interchange from his side. He stated that he followed the same process he followed before every game.
“Everyone else got it except the RFL, Hull complained and I lost a sub. They said Adam Holroyd wasn’t in the 21. It’s just not good enough.
“There was an option to give us our sub back because there was a mess-up, but some choices were made not to do that.”
He would go further and claim that it was a safety issue with his players asked to each play slightly longer or harder without the use of that eighth interchange.
Sam Burgess explained: “We’ve got to get it right. We talk about concussions and protecting our players and tonight we failed. Someone needs to be held accountable for that.
“We had a choice to make before the game and we didn’t make the right choice for the players,” Burgess argued, alluding to Hull FC’s decision not to accept Warrington’s inclusion of Holroyd in the squad, thereby docking Wire an interchange.
Jon Wilkin described the outburst as a show of passion from his former England teammate.
