Warrington Wolves boss Sam Burgess insists his side must fix up ‘soft’ elements of their defence after losing out to Hull KR in Friday’s Super League play-off semi-final. Warrington pushed Rovers close at Craven Park, but ultimately goal kicking was the difference on the night as Willie Peters’ side won 10-8 to reach their first Grand Final.
The game wasn’t without controversy with Warrington seeing a Matt Dufty effort ruled out for obstruction before Joe Burgess was awarded a try, despite replays failing to show him get the ball down. Barging his way over from dummy half, it was unclear whether the winger had managed to touch down through a crowd of bodies.
Referee Liam Moore sent the effort to the video referee with the on-field decision of try and there was insufficient evidence to overturn it. Warrington hit back in the second half with two tries of their own through Matty Ashton, but ultimately a successful Mikey Lewis conversion split the two sides.
Burgess gave his take on the controversy, but fundamentally he was frustrated with the manner in which his defensive line was breached on two occasions.
“I’m disappointed,” Burgess told the press. “We lost and we came here to win so disappointed with that.
“I thought we were OK, we showed loads of spirit, which I knew we would. We knew the start would be hard because they were fresher and we’re coming off a six-day turnaround. I thought we managed it OK, I thought the tries were pretty soft.”
On the Burgess try he added: “It’s soft. It was soft. We don’t deserve to be in the Grand Final with barge over tries from dummy half. In Round 2 I can live with it but in the semi-finals? It’s not Premiership winning stuff. That’s the end of the story really. It’s not going to win us the comp, we’ve got to fix that up.”
The loss ensures Warrington Wolves’ season comes an abrupt halt, with Hull KR being the side to progress and take on either Wigan Warriors or Leigh Leopards in the Grand Final. And, while the result was tough to take for Burgess, who won an NRL Grand Final as a player, he took the opportunity to pay tribute to Willie Peters’ Robins after the game.
“We had a couple of chances we didn’t quite take and you have to give Hull KR a bit of credit, they’re a great side, they’ve had a great year and they made us work hard early and expend a lot of energy,” he said.
“They defended with a lot of spirit at the end of the game. They changed the way they were defending a little bit and we found it trickier to score points. They’re a great side and it should be a good contest next week whoever they play.”
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