Warrington Wolves boss Sam Burgess has cast his eye over his side’s 30-10 win over York Knights, the first match of three that come in the next 11 days.
It’s a crunch period for Wire, who head to Craven Park to face Hull KR on Tuesday night in a game that will really test their resolve and they will likely have to be more polished than they were tonight, with Burgess admitting that it was clunky in parts of their comfortable win over York.
He excused that clunkiness on account of the fact George Williams and Sam Stone both returned from long lay-offs, whilst Arron Lindop was back for the first time since late June after missing much of the early season as well.
“Job done, I thought,” Burgess assessed when speaking on Sky Sports to give his verdict.
“It was a risky night. We has three players coming in from injury. Returning means there is sometimes a bit of uptake. You’ve got a lot of new combinations.
“We were a little bit scrappy with the ball and defensively, we probably weren’t as physical as we could have been, but happy to get the two points. It’s going to take some managing this next month.”
On those returning bodies, and the need to manage this upcoming period, Burgess simply said: “It’s just the situation we’re in. We got some rotation today. Some players played a little bit longer than usual and some played a little bit less.
“That does get in the way of cohesion so I can accept some of the clunkiness but I’m happy with our commitment to get the two points.”
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Warrington Wolves boss reacts after York win
The major story of the night was the fact that captain George Williams returned after neck surgery and a lengthy lay-off, playing the full 80 minutes as well, and Burgess gave his verdict on his skipper’s return.
“It’s nice to get George out there and see him playing again. He probably thinks he might be a bit scratchy but you can see what he’s going to bring.
“We’ve got seven or eight weeks left together as a group. I’m excited to see what he’s going to deliver. I’m excited to see his game grow over the next month or two.”
Williams may well have been upstaged by playing partner Ewan Irwin, who deservedly picked up the Man of the Match medal, and Burgess was again calm on what a talent the teenager is.
“He’s very balanced. He’s a joy to coach. He’s got a lot of talent. We can all see that,” he said.
“His greatest attribute is he’s a wonderful person. We’re going to see a bit of him over the next couple of years.”
Having moved to third in the table, Burgess refused to lay out certain targets, simply stating: “We’re going as high as we can. We’re aiming for the top.”
As for Tuesday, the Wire coach teased some ‘funky ideas’ will be used to prepare: “A lot of work is going to be done. A lot of time spent on recovery and prepping mentally, getting refreshed.
“We’ve got a couple of different ideas. A couple of funky ideas this week around trying to have a bit of fun but getting us ready to play on Tuesday night. I’m looking forward to it.”
The Wolves go up to third 🐺#SuperLeague pic.twitter.com/pBiIR8PocY
— Betfred Super League (@SuperLeague) August 13, 2026
