Warrington Wolves

Sam Burgess slams ‘bad habits’ as Warrington Wolves limp past Salford Red Devils

by
Sam Cook
July 4, 2025

Warrington Wolves head coach Sam Burgess has reacted after his side’s poor performance against Salford Red Devils, explaining that his side showed plenty of ‘bad habits’ in their 24-12 win.

Despite coming away from the Salford Community Stadium with a win, Warrington were miles off where they should have been and put in a lackluster performance against the Red Devils.

Salford clawed it back to 12-12 early in the second half and looked to be on top but Warrington managed to get over in the corner before a late error saw them score another through Stefan Ratchford.

“I don’t know what’s worse, the weather or the game,” quipped Sam Burgess as he began his post-match interview on Sky Sports.

Asked if that meant he hadn’t enjoyed the match, Burgess responded: “I don’t think anyone did. I think it was a tough game to really get into. It didn’t really flow. We were really poor in a lot of areas.”

Warrington Wolves play-off hopes ‘still alive’ despite poor performance

Warrington might have led 12-8 at half-time but they had committed nine errors and completed at just 58%, something that is nowhere near good enough for a side with top six ambitions.

Curiously, Burgess pointed to the lack of ‘feel’ around Salford Community Stadium as one way his side failed to get into the game.

He explained: “I thought Salford showed a great deal of spirit, and they played with a lot of energy. It’s just a tough game to watch.There’s not a screen here, there’s not a feel around the area, so it’s tough. I think our performance reflected that. It’s not good enough.”

It looked like a Warrington side who expected an easy win and when asked if his side simply failed to get up for the game, Burgess agreed: “Well, I think we saw that tonight. I think we certainly let some bad habits take over tonight.

“I don’t think our intent was where it needed to be. I thought Salford, physically, were very good. We left so many things out on the field today so I’m really disappointed with the guys for that, really.”

Having closed in on the top six, Burgess was asked about those play-off hopes, admitting: “We need to work hard because what we just put forward there is just simply not good enough. So we’ve got some work to do.

“The dream’s still alive. We’re still believing inside, but I think tonight’s performance was a bit of a scratch on some of our efforts over the last little while.”