Warrington Wolves head coach Sam Burgess has remained tight-lipped on the club’s injury issues ahead of the Challenge Cup semi-final against Hull KR, though he’s insisted his side are ready for the challenge.
It’s a repeat of last year’s final on Sunday afternoon as Warrington look to avenge their 2025 Wembley defeat that came in the dying minutes against Hull KR when Tom Davies scored the game-winning try.
That would act as a platform for Hull KR to go and complete their best-ever season whilst Warrington’s campaign faded away as they failed to make the play-offs but in 2026, it’s Wire who have been the more impressive.
They sit two points ahead of Hull KR and remain in good form, something Burgess noted when speaking to BBC Radio Merseyside, as he said: “We had a nice win on the weekend, which always helps leading into a semi-final.
“There’s plenty to work on as a group, we’ve got a couple of key injuries at the moment in key areas so managing that is going to be really important over the next block but we’re excited for the week ahead. It’s going to be a great challenge for us on Sunday over in Doncaster.”
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Warrington Wolves boss ready for old-fashioned battle versus Hull KR
Those key injuries include key spine duo George Williams and Cai Taylor-Wray but there are a number of other niggles that Warrington may not yet be over with Burgess remaining tight-lipped when asked about who will or won’t be available.
“No, not so many,” he responded when asked about possible returnees, adding: “We might get one or two back but not as many as we thought we were going to get back.
“That’s just the way it is at this time of year, it’s very demanding and obviously we’ve had some tough games. It will be a good opportunity for some of our guys.”
Whoever does play, Burgess is expecting a fierce contest given what’s at stake as he previewed the game: “I think it’s going to be an old-fashioned great game of rugby league. Hopefully, the sun is out and a nice bit of rugby is played on both sides.
“Some of my favourite memories so far have been at these semi-final games. The passion from both fans and the local stadiums that are not huge but are filled makes for a great sense of occasion.
“We respect Hull KR a lot. We know what they’re going to bring and we like to think we’ve got a game that suits each other. They like to play that transition game and so do we.”
He admitted: “It’s going to come down to a couple of moments, the last couple of times we’ve played each other, barring the final, we’ve been pretty decimated and we’re missing some key guys but we’re ready for a good contest on Sunday.”
