George Williams stole the show on Tuesday night as Warrington Wolves saw off Hull KR with a performance so good that it was easy to forget that he’s been out of action for over four months with a neck injury.
It was a neck injury that required surgery that could well have ended his season, and thus his Warrington Wolves’ career given that he’s set for an NRL move, however, the England captain is back and looks as though he’s hardly missed a beat.
He admitted otherwise when speaking post-match to Sky Sports on Tuesday night, admitting: “I was blowing in the last 15 minutes of it but I’ve done some tough work at home, the medical staff, the performance staff, I want to thank them for getting me back but now it’s about the team and I’m glad I’m back. I’m just here to help the team now.”
Williams also confirmed that he is ahead of schedule on his return with his time away primarily to help young halves Leon Hayes and Ewan Irwin.
He said: “My enjoyment was teaching Ewan and Leon, doing video with them, seeing them implement it in their game. That was my enjoyment for the last 12, 15 weeks, whatever it was, just to see them get better.
“I think they have come on leaps and bounds in the last 15 weeks, so it’s rubbish when you’re not playing, but I got a little bit of enjoyment from that.”
Specifically on Irwin, who is viewed as one of the game’s biggest talents, Williams admitted: “I think sometimes you only learn in the deep end, and that’s what’s happened with Ewan. He’s probably played more games than we all thought, even though we knew he had the ability. He’s been chucked in the deep end. He’s just getting better and better.”
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George Williams’ advice for Mikey Lewis after latest incident
Another major talent who is still developing, despite being seven years older than Irwin, is Mikey Lewis, Williams’ opposite number on Tuesday night and his England teammate.
It’s been a frustrating few weeks for the Hull KR man who was banned for four matches after his last game against Warrington and upon returning on Tuesday night has picked up a further two-match ban.
That came for his dangerous contact on Ewan Irwin when charging a kick down, resulting in his fourth sin bin of the year, and Williams was asked what advice he would offer to his international teammate.
“I’d put my arm around him,” Williams admitted.
“When you speak to Mikey, he’s actually a nice, quiet lad. He’s not like he plays.
“I love the way he plays. He’s competitive and competes for everything but sometimes it’s just a fine line. At the minute, he’s getting it wrong, but we all know he’s one of the best players in our comp.”
Williams added: “If he plays as his best, he’s one of the best. I’d put me around him. I’m sure he’s doing loads of work on himself. He wouldn’t want that to happen tonight.
“We all know Mikey’s one of the best players in the comp and hopefully get back to that pretty soon.”
Warrington Wolves intent on ‘closing the gap’
Tuesday’s win over Lewis and KR saw Warrington solidify their place in third with Wire now just two points behind leaders Leeds and Wigan.
With arguably the best run-in of any play-off side – Huddersfield at home, Hull FC away, Wakefield away and Toulouse at home – Warrington could capitalise and snag a top two finish should one of the top two lose.
As it happens, Leeds and Wigan face each other so barring the first draw of the season, that defeat is likely. Winning out could mean Warrington would be vying for top two based on points difference, but when asked what the Wolves’ goals are, Williams was clear.
“We want to close the gap,” he insisted, not simply from a league position but on the whole as he explained more.
“That was our method. Our philosophy from the start of the year was to close the gap and I think we’re doing that slowly.
“I spoke to the lads behind the posts when we conceded two late tries. We want to be a champion team. Champion teams don’t concede them, so that keeps us on our toes.
“We had a great win tonight, but if we’re serious about doing something serious, then we need to knock them tries on the head.”
He also pointed to another areas of recent weakness: “I think we conceded four tries off kicks tonight, so that’s something to work on. I think we conceded two against York, one against Bradford, so it’s something to work on for the coaches and ourselves.”
As for which sides in the top six he’s scared of, Williams was firm: “You can’t be scared playing rugby league. We respect everybody and our method is to close the gap, so we know we’re not the top team in the league, so we’d better go and earn it.”
