New Warrington Wolves head coach Sam Burgess has alluded to the club’s lack of “success” having created a mindset that needs to change.
Burgess was speaking at the Super League launch event with the season to kick off on Thursday 15th February with a packed-out Hull derby.
However, Sam Burgess will have to wait until Saturday to get his first taste of coaching in Super League with Warrington Wolves facing Catalans Dragons in the south of France.
It’s a very tough start but one that he’s embracing as he explained that the team will take something from it “whatever the result”.
France proved a difficult place to go for a number of Super League sides last year with Steve McNamara’s side boasting wins of 61-0 and 42-0, however, Warrington won in both the Challenge Cup and Super League.
Despite those impressive wins, the club faltered at crunch time in the play-0ffs and the Challenge Cup quarter-finals and Burgess has explained he needs time to change the mindset that’s been created by a lack of success.
“Yeah, I’m still working it out,” Burgess explained.
“You can’t change a mindset overnight, it takes time. You’ve got to get a certain level of buy-in and I’m not disrespecting the team and what we’ve done before, or the previous coaches, but they’ve not had much success over the last few years. Something needs to change, and what that is I don’t know yet.
“I’ve brought in what I think will help. The players, we’ve had a good pre-season but the proof will be in the pudding when we start playing a consistent amount of games over a period of time. So I don’t know yet, I’m still putting my finger on it.”
Sam Burgess backing his “skilful” Warrington Wolves side
Rodrick Tai is one of the skilful players that Warrington Wolves have signed ahead of the 2024 season. – (Photo by Charlotte Tattersall/Getty Images for RLWC)
Warrington have made a number of Super League signings to the pack but Burgess believes in his club’s backs too, explaining that the team is packed with skill but they must learn to harness it instead.
“We’ve got a very skilful team so I tried to bring it back a bit, get the basics done well and at a consistent level. Over a consistent period of time I think you’ll be in the game much more,” Burgess confirmed.
One such example of him ensuring the basics are done right is his focus on defence with the former dual-code England international implementing a new defensive style.
“We’ve had a bit of a change of attitude to our defence. But like I said, it’s all been practice so far. We’ve had a couple of trial games that have not been great so we start improving as the season goes on.”
Burgess was also asked if the job is far bigger than he anticipated, something he batted back and denied.
“No, not really,” Burgess responded. “You’re managing a lot of people and you’ve got to get a team to connect together and get a job done. So it always requires a certain amount of energy. It’s just with this comes a bit more. But I enjoy that side of it, so I care.”
The team now look ahead to face Catalans with Burgess also confirming that they’ll travel early to provide his squad with a day off and get a session in the warm weather.
