Sam Burgess starts Hull KR mind games after Warrington Wolves win thriller

Warrington Wolves head coach Sam Burgess has already begun the psychological mind games ahead of his side’s semi-final against Hull KR with the Wire boss dubbing the Robins as ‘heavy favourites’ for the game on Friday.

Burgess’ side earned their spot in Friday’s match in dramatic fashion as they beat St Helens 23-22 in golden point after Saints struck in the last-minute to level the scores. Despite that, Warrington kept their heads and England captain George Williams kicked the decisive drop goal to send the Wolves to a first Super League semi-final since 2019.

It was a gruelling 84-minute affair and on that matter, Hull KR certainly have an advantage with the Robins well-rested after securing a bye week. They will also have home advantage which is more essential to Rovers than many teams in Super League, however, they will be without influential captain Elliot Minchella whose suspension has been upheld.

Hence Burgess labelling KR as ‘heavy favourites’ is the first battle of mind games heading into what should be a brilliant game. The Warrington Wolves coach made those comments when speaking post-game to Sky Sports about the prospect of heading to Craven Park, stating: “It’s okay, it’s okay with us. I dare say that they’ll be heavy favourites but it’s okay with us. We’ve got nothing to lose.”

Are Hull KR ‘heavy favourites’ to beat Warrington Wolves?

Burgess would then note the need to recover after such a mentally and physically testing game before crediting the massive influence of the fans who had filled out the Halliwell Jones Stadium.

“We’ve got to recover, it was a physical game on both sides. So we’ve got to recover well and get ready to go again on Friday night.

“They’ve been outstanding, they’ve been great all year,” Burgess said of the fans, adding: “I don’t think we’ve got 1,200 tickets to Hull KR so it’s going to be hard to fit them all in.

“They’ve been great all year though. It was our last (home) game of the year so it’s fitting how we won.”

But how true is his statement that Hull KR will be ‘heavy favourites’? Super League sponsor Betfred have priced the game up and made Warrington Wolves slight underdogs with the handicap line set at 2.5 points. Given KR’s well-documented kicking problems, that could easily be erased.

Pundit Sam Tomkins was also quick to pick up on Burgess’ comment, arguing: “I thought it was amazing Sam said that Hull KR will be big favourites next week. They might be favourites but after tonight the margin between the two sides next week in that semifinal is minimal.

“I think Warrington have proven tonight that they can win it tough. They don’t have to play their best 10 out of 10 fancy rugby to win a game. I thought they were outstanding.”

In the three previous meetings this season, Warrington Wolves have won twice but it was Hull KR who won the most recent clash. Some solace for Warrington is that they are one of just two teams to beat the Robins at Craven Park this year and they’ll be hoping for the same at 8:00 pm on Friday night.