Warrington Wolves head coach Sam Burgess has given his verdict after his side were defeated 18-14 by Leigh Leopards in Rivals Round of Super League.
Despite taking a 2-0 lead after nine minutes, Leigh would score 18 unanswered points before Warrington Wolves finally threatened a comeback but it was too little too late as they fell short.
It means Warrington have lost a second in a row in Super League and they will slip to ninth on the ladder should Catalans Dragons beat Salford Red Devils, something the French side are heavily favoured to do.
It’s easy to pinpoint one of the major reasons why Warrington lost and that’s the absence of their captain and chief playmaker George Williams, ruled out for eight to ten weeks with an ankle injury, meaning the Wolves will have to learn how to win without him.
One of those huge games they’ll play without him is their Challenge Cup semi-final against the same opponent in early May, a fixture that’s part of a run that Sam Burgess says the club “can’t wait” for,
“Bit to build on” – Warrington Wolves boss reacts to Leigh Leopards loss
Reacting to the defeat post-match, Burgess was asked about the late comeback attempt with Wire’s left edge offering all the threat as Toby King and Matty Ashton both scored after the hour mark to give Warrington a chance with eight minutes to go.
“Yeah we could have (nicked it), I thought it was a good contest,” assessed Burgess.
“I thought we missed a few opportunities early and a couple in the second half and then we started the second half a little bit slow, a couple of pressure releases.
“There was a lot to like about our game, I thought our energy to our defence was a bit better, so there is a bit to build on. ”
Looking ahead to face the likes of St Helens, Wigan Warriors and Leigh in the Challenge Cup across their next three contests, Burgess will hope his side can ‘build on’ it sooner rather than later.
FT with @ResultingIT
Defeat at Leigh Sports Village pic.twitter.com/bJnMUnz7OD
— Warrington Wolves (@WarringtonRLFC) April 19, 2025
Barring Matt Dufty’s pace, Warrington didn’t offer immense threat with their attack ‘disjointed’ per those on comms and when asked about that, Burgess challenged it.
He argued: “Well, George is a big miss to anyone, so I won’t say that there was disjointedness (without him).
“I thought we got into our plan well, we executed our plan well enough. The last parts or the last couple of finishing touches we can tidy up but I thought it worked okay.
“I thought Danny, it’s a tough job and they sent a lot of traffic out and they’re a smart team. I thought it all worked really well, we had to move things on the run and adapt to things. I thought the players did really well with that.”
Looking ahead to that tough run of fixtures, the Wire boss said: “We can’t wait. I mean, obviously we’re loving the challenge at the moment. We’re not getting the results that we were chasing, but I thought the contest today was great. Physicality-wise, we were in the game. We just lacked a bit of polish.”
