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Warrington Wolves star makes George Williams claim as Sam Burgess influence noted

Warrington Wolves youngster Leon Hayes has spoken ahead of his return to the field with Sam Burgess and George Williams’ influence hailed.

Hayes saw his 2024 season end in April when he suffered a horror injury against Salford after having dislodged Josh Drinkwater from the starting spot. Despite still being in recovery, faith has been placed in the 20-year-old with Sam Burgess handing him the number seven shirt – something that Hayes has labelled a “dream”.

“Having that number 7 is pretty surreal and it’s something you dream of as a kid,” he told the Super League website.

“It’s crazy to be honest, but it doesn’t make me any better or worse of a player – I just have to keep doing what I’m doing and hopefully that’ll be enough.”

Hayes will be challenged by new signing Ollie Leyland with the two young halves set to compete for the starting role next to George Williams at Warrington, which for boyhood Wolves fan Hayes is something he still finds “crazy”.

He said: “I used to go to all of the games and loved watching Warrington. Ever since I was little, I went with my family, and when I was a little bit older I went with my friends. It’s crazy that I’m on the pitch now playing.”

Warrington Wolves youngster hails Sam Burgess and George Williams impact

Whilst Hayes had debuted for the Wolves in 2022, it wasn’t until the 2024 season that he started to make his mark as he played ten games for Warrington before his season-ending injury.

Speaking on that, he said: “The start of last year was really good. I felt like I was learning and growing as the year went on. I was developing in certain areas and then obviously it got cut short which was unfortunately out of my control.”

It’s been almost a full year of recovery and it’s recently been revealed by Sam Burgess that the 20-year-old won’t feature until at least Round Five in March.

Hayes spoke about how mentally tough that is, noting: “It’s been really tough to be honest. You’re in and around the team all the time and you feel all of the positivity and energy, but you haven’t been a part of it on the pitch, and it can affect you a bit.

“But we’re coming round to the back end of my injury now, so I’m really excited to get back into that team.”

Having had so long off, success is returning to the field with the youngster keen to “keep learning”, something he has done plenty of from head coach Sam Burgess and star player George Williams.

“Sam [Burgess] is amazing,” Hayes explained.

“He’s great on a personal level too, he’ll always look after you and sees you as a person before a player which is really important.”

As for his prospective playing player, Hayes was definitive in his praise.

“I’ve got the best halfback in this country next to me in George [Williams], which is pretty helpful,” he declared.

“He’s been around a lot longer than me and knows his stuff, so if I ever have any queries and worries, then I can always ask him. He’s always been there for me, which I really appreciate.”

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