Sam Burgess confirms Warrington Wolves’ Challenge Cup final line-up with bench call made

Sam Burgess has confirmed that Warrington Wolves will line-up ‘as expected’ against Hull KR for Saturday’s Challenge Cup final.

The Wolves had a number of injury concerns at the start of the week with Lachlan Fitzgibbon picking up an issue last week against Castleford Tigers, while Toby King and Jordy Crowther missed that game altogether.

Burgess admitted that the latter two would be a ‘stretch’ while speaking to the press on Monday afternoon at the Challenge Cup final media event near Leeds. However, both men were cleared to take part in the final on Wednesday afternoon, prior to the club’s trip down to the capital. And, they’ll both play against the Robins, with Lachlan Fitzgibbon being passed fit, too.

“It’s pretty clear who’s going to play, everyone has pulled through quite well so we’ll be as everyone expects,” Burgess told the press after Warrington’s captain’s run at Wembley on Friday afternoon.

Burgess has confirmed that Stefan Ratchford will also be named in the side, with the veteran getting the nod despite George Williams’ fitness.

Warrington Wolves boss confirms Stefan Ratchford role for Challenge Cup Final

“He’ll be on the bench, Stef plays tomorrow, he’ll be on the bench,” Burgess added.

“I think with Stef he’s been fantastic for us. He missed out last year and he’s done a great job while George has been out, not only filling in for George but he’s filled in at centre as well.

“A couple of players coming back in Toby and George, it made absolute sense but also he deserves to be here, he got us here and he’s been a big part of our journey in the cup. He deserves the opportunity to win.

“He’s a very experienced player, a previous winner and he’s a great lad to have around and he’s experienced. There’s value in him for a number of different reasons. Whether he gets a great amount of time tomorrow or not, he’ll certainly have an influence.”

On his side’s build up to the final, the Wolves head coach said: “It’s been great, we’ve been much more relaxed, we’re excited and the players are looking forward to the game. We’ve tried to keep it relatively calm, we didn’t do the fanfare pre-game so we’ve just got our heads down and got down early.”