WARRINGTON Wolves’ coach Sam Burgess has issued a rallying cry to supporters to turn out for Joe Philbin’s testimonial against Leigh on Saturday, kick off 5:30 pm.
It’s being dubbed as Burgess’ first official game in charge, after he oversaw a largely academy outfit defeat Widnes 46-40 at the Halliwell Jones Stadium last week.
His starting team will include new signings from Australia Zane Musgrove and Lachlan Fitzgibbon, while Toby King will make his first appearance for Warrington Wolves for more than 18 months following loan spells at Huddersfield and Wigan.
Warrington will be without Stefan Ratchford, Matty Nicholson and Joe Bullock, as well as new signings Wesley Bruines and Rodrick Tai. Forward Paul Vaughan is suspended, but will be free to return for the Super League opener at Catalans.
Last season’s Challenge Cup winners Leigh are expected to send a strong side for Philbin’s testimonial. The prop celebrated signing a new deal with the club on the eve of the match.
After sneaking in to sixth spot late last season, Warrington are priced at around fifth favourites for the Super League title in 2024 and enter the season as a bit of an unknown quantity.
While they have kept the bulk of their squad from last season, the impact of Burgess as coach is as yet unknown, while the additions to the pack and the return of King could potentially make a difference.
Rather than make any bold statements about their prospects, Burgess and his players have remained focused on themselves this pre-season. They are planning to have an extended trip for the game in Perpignan, leaving the UK on Wednesday February 14th to prepare for the game on the Saturday, which will effectively act as a replacement for the overseas pre-season training camps of previous years.
Asked about what he thinks about Super League and the competition, Burgess said: “Ask me in about 10 weeks and I’ll know a bit more! I’ve been impressed with what I’ve seen. I can’t talk for anyone else, I’ve been impressed with the skill level here, it’s actually surprised me yeah, I’m really happy with it.
“I’ve got a couple of favourites, don’t get me wrong! I don’t agree with that. I don’t think everyone is treated the same. You move with the fluidity of the team, some players you need to be harder on, they need that coaching and some players you just encourage them to be who they are. It’s a really fluid position.”
The departure of Sam Kasiano has opened up a vacancy in the Wolves squad, though as apparent in the win over Widnes last week, there may well be youngsters knocking on the door for first team opportunities, if a signing doesn’t materialise.
Burgess added: “I don’t just don’t really want to bring anyone in who is not quality so there’s no rush. We only want to bring someone is who is going to add to us, there’s not much space on the salary cap so that kind of limits that a bit. We’ve got a quota spot (available) but there’s no rush, we’re not going to panic into anything, we’ve got a great squad as it is so we’ll just see how the year unfolds.
“They won first 8 games last year but then lost to Wigan and Saints narrowly and then they seemed to lose confidence from those and were never quite the same again, it’s just turning those narrow defeats into wins.”
After the trip to Catalans to open the season, Warrington welcome Hull to the Halliwell Jones Stadium on Friday February 23, and then host Castleford the following week.
Warrington Wolves team v Leigh: Dufty, Thewlis, Wrench, King, Ashton, Williams, Drinkwater, Musgrove, Walker, Philbin, Currie, Fitzgibbon, Crowther. Subs: Harrison, Hayes, Dudson, Dwyer, Russell, Thomas, Holroyd, Thewlis, Powell, Lindop, Wood, Tupaea.
