Lachlan Fitzgibbon insists Sam Burgess’ delayed arrival in Las Vegas this week has not been a distraction for Warrington Wolves.
Warrington have been in Las Vegas all week having flown out of the UK on Sunday, but they did so without head coach Burgess, who encountered issues with his visa. Burgess eventually got the green light from the US embassy and he made the journey to meet up with his players on Wednesday after the official launch event but before the fan festival at Fremont Street on Thursday night.
As such, the boss has overseen just one training session with his team stateside, with Warrington going up against Penrith Panthers in an opposed training session. That came after assistants Martin Gleeson and Richard Marshall led the side in Tuesday’s session.
Fitzgibbon insists Warrington were strong enough to cope without their head coach earlier in the week, though, with his late arrival set to have little effect come their game with Wigan Warriors.
“Not at all,” Fitzgibbon said when asked if Burgess’ absence could have had an impact on the squad. “The only difference was Sam wasn’t on the flight.
“We had that Tuesday session but we’re experienced enough and good enough as a club to be able to run these sessions with Glees and Marsh. It’s really good to have Sam here, he’s the leader of our club and I’m sure he was pumped to get here.”
He added: “We have done a bit of video already, it’s the same game prep that we normally do, we normally get two sessions in and a captain’s run. We had a look at Wigan on Tuesday, we had a good look at Wigan, implemented a bit of planning and we’ll do a more in depth defensive look at Wigan.”
Fitzgibbon missed the opening round of the Super League season with a long-standing shoulder issue, but he was fit enough to return to action last week and fortunately the Warrington Wolves man came through that clash with Catalans Dragons in good shape to cement his spot on the plane to Vegas.
“After getting through last Friday, my shoulder came up really well and my body feels really good,” he confirmed. “I just have to string some back to back games together and get through 80 minutes this weekend.”
Brian Carney speaks at the Allegiant Stadium ahead of Wigan Warriors vs Warrington Wolves tomorrow pic.twitter.com/DH3faFKHFe
— Serious About Rugby League (@SeriousAboutRL) February 28, 2025
