Sam Burgess is set for a tough few weeks with both starting halves George Williams and Marc Sneyd out of action, making for a question of who exactly does play at six and seven for Warrington Wolves?
George Williams’ injury was confirmed recently with the England captain undergoing ankle surgery which means he will be out for around another eight weeks. Williams looks set to be in a race to get back for the Challenge Cup Final on June 7th, should Wire overcome Leigh Leopards in the semi-finals.
Losing Williams is a massive blow but matters got worse last night as Marc Sneyd failed a HIA, something which would ordinarily rule a player out for one week. However, it was confirmed that Sneyd’s failure was actually due to the former Salford man sustaining a broken eye socket, something that will likely sideline him for at least four to six weeks.
Just nine rounds into the season and Warrington Wolves find themselves without their first-choice halves for likely a month, potentially more, meaning Sam Burgess is going to have to get experimental.
Who could Warrington Wolves play in the halves?
The most obvious option is for Warrington to back their 2025 signing Oli Leyland and their veteran playmaker Stefan Ratchford, however, neither were given the nod to start after George Williams’ absence was confirmed.
Instead, Sam Burgess moved England hooker Danny Walker into the halves and saw Sam Powell fill in at nine with the ex-Wigan man serving as the in-play kicker when Sneyd left the field last night.
Walker does offer some running threat out of the halves but moving an England international from his preferred position seems counter-intuitive, especially when the likes of Leyland and Ratchford are waiting in the wings.
Leon Hayes is set to return from injury soon so he could provide an option as well, however, there are two more outside choices for the role.
Ben Currie stepped up last night with the forward having already played a number of roles this year, be it second-row, loose forward, and centre. Currie is a defensively sound option and also a player who can lead which may well be necessary if he’s partnered with young Oli Leyland, or even younger Ewan Irwin.
Irwin is the Warrington Wolves’ academy half-back and he’s had a flying start to the season with the young Wires currently unbeaten. Irwin has been named to the 21-man squad the past two weeks and even served as 18th man last night.
A night to remember for young Ewan Irwin 👏 pic.twitter.com/u4yaVUCARS
— Warrington Wolves (@WarringtonRLFC) April 24, 2025
With both Sneyd and Matty Ashton failing HIAs, it meant Irwin actually got 15 minutes of game time with the teen making his debut and given the way George Whitby has risen to his role for St Helens, Sam Burgess could potentially be tempted to thrust young Irwin into the role.
Next up for Warrington are Wigan Warriors at Magic Weekend, a game that pundit Jon Wilkin claimed no-one will expect the Wolves to win meaning that the pressure and shackles would be off to play the youngster.
Equally, the Challenge Cup semi-final comes a week later so it would prove prudent to use the Wigan game to create a partnership that will be deployed in that clash with Leigh Leopards. Which partnership Burgess will go for will be determined in the coming days with the Englishman having plenty of options to consider.
