Sam Burgess admits he made mistakes in his first year as head coach with Warrington Wolves. Burgess made an impressive start to life in the dugout at the Halliwell Jones Stadium, with the Wolves losing just three of their first 12 Super League rounds and reaching the Challenge Cup final.
However, Warrington lost to Wigan Warriors at Wembley Stadium and after finishing third in Super League, their season came to an end at the semi-final stage of the play-offs, with Hull KR progressing to the Grand Final.
Ultimately, while it was a season of ups and downs, it was one of learning for Burgess, who admits to getting a few decisions wrong over the course of the campaign.
“The year has actually been pretty good, the first year has been steady away and we had a lot of success which helped,” Burgess told The Run Home with Joel & Fletch. “We missed top spot by one win so we had a good year and I’ve been learning along the way.
“I got stuff wrong, a couple of things wrong during the year with a few players and a bit of selection stuff but otherwise it’s been fun, natural, I’ve enjoyed it. I have a good set of players here and good staff around me.
“Martin Gleeson is my attack coach, I call him the maestro, he’s brilliant and Rich Marshall is my defence coach so it gives me opportunity to manage and make sure the group is in the right place.”
Burgess signed an initial two year deal with Warrington but saw that contract extended by a further year in July. It spoke of the job Burgess had done during his first few months in the job but it was also a decision made with future recruitment in mind.
“I’ve got another couple of years,” Burgess added when asked about his deal with Warrington. “I initially had two but when it came to recruitment I found it pretty tricky to convince guys to come to us based on me having a short contract so we threw another year on.
“I’ve got two more years from now and I’m absolutely loving it. I’m really enjoying being back in the north of England, I get to live more of a normal life here and we’ve got a young family so it’s been really nice.”
Asked about the possibility of making a return to the NRL down the line, he added: “I obviously thought about it earlier but now I’m here I’m enjoying it.
“We’ll wait until the right opportunity comes up and wait until I’ve finished the job here, which I want to do. We’re in no rush but certainly at some point I’d like to think I get there and have an opportunity to coach in the NRL.”
