Sam Burgess provides Warrington Wolves contract clarity as Super League Grand Final defeat verdict given

Sam Burgess has revealed he hasn’t signed a contract with Warrington Wolves for 2027, but has given the club ‘his word’ that he will be sticking around.

Losing 23-10 to Wakefield Trinity, Burgess’ Wolves came up second best in the Super League Grand Final – a game that, in terms of his contract situation, was the England legend’s final in charge of the club.

However, the 37-year-old has reaffirmed that it will be him in charge of the club next season after a verbal agreement between himself and owner Simon Moran.

He told the press after tonight’s Grand Final defeat: “I’ve not actually signed a contract yet… I gave my word to Simon Moran, and that’s probably better than any contract you’ll see these days, so I’m staying, yes.”

Whilst Burgess is staying, he will need to see out 2027 without assistant boss Steve McNamara, who is headed to Hull FC to be their next head coach.

McNamara isn’t the only person who will leave Warrington at the end of the season, with a number of players, including captain George Williams, leaving for pastures new.

The England star has openly expressed his desire to finish his Wolves career with a Grand Final winners ring; he, in particular, will be hurting the most after how his time in Primrose and Blue has ended.

“It’s been a joy to coach George,” Burgess said. “He’s a good friend, a wonderful competitor.

“I think the form he’s been in in the past couple of months has been brilliant. It’s sad to see him go, but we wish him all the best.

“A couple of guys [leaving], I’m just really gutted we couldn’t get it done for them. It wasn’t our day today.”

Defeated boss Sam Burgess pays full credit to Wakefield Trinity after Super League Grand Final

Burgess showed his class in defeat, saying that their victorious opponents Wakefield deserve all the praise for a brilliant Old Trafford performance.

The Wire boss said that Trinity controlled the ruck, leaving Warrington “surviving” rather than competing.

“We must pay huge congratulations to Wakefield. The stats in the first half, I don’t really want to talk about the game too much because it’s over and the season’s over, but they were very level in a lot of aspects.

“They physically just won the ruck. That was the difference between the two teams. They controlled the ruck much better, both sides of the ball.

“We were just surviving. You’ve just got to pay credit to the other team. They beat us today.”

Heading to the sheds 19-0 down, Burgess wasn’t surprised by his side’s second-half fightback, with Wire showing that desire throughout the season.

Asked if he would change anything in hindsight, Burgess replied:  “We’ve got no regrets.

“I love the way we prepped. I love how we’ve handled the week. Just quickly had a reflection with the staff, we wouldn’t change a thing.

“We’re really happy with how we got to the game, we just lost the physical battle early and we spent a lot of energy in the first half.

“19 points is a lot. We did our best but essentially it was too far a gap to chase.”