SAM BURGESS has admitted that Ben Currie’s success in the loose-forward role has come as a surprise, even to the coach himself.
The Warrington head coach was one of the finest players of his day in that position, starring for Bradford in Super League and South Sydney in the NRL.
In five of his seven Super League games to date, the rookie boss has named Currie at 13, with Jordan Crowther taking that spot on the other occasions.
That’s despite Currie being known mainly as a backrower, and occasional centre, in a long career with the Wolves, which stretches back to his first-team debut, aged 17, in 2012.
“Moving him to the middle has been a revelation and he seems to be really enjoying it,” said Burgess of the 29-year-old.
Burgess played alongside Currie for England at the 2017 World Cup, with both packing down together in the narrow final defeat to Australia in Brisbane.
But the coach says he came to Warrington with no particular intention to switch Currie to the role, which he played to great effect in the Wire’s recent Super League win at Leeds.
“I didn’t have a clue, to be honest,” said Burgess of Currie’s potential to play in the position.
“He came to me and asked to play a bit of middle. We were pretty short at the time and it’s worked pretty well for him.
“He’s enjoying his game again. I think Ben would probably say he’s maybe not made the most of some parts of his career, but it’s a great time for him to step up in that role and he’s really enjoying it.
“He and Jordy Crowther combined pretty well and I’ve certainly got a few headaches in the next couple of weeks, so we’ll see what happens.”
Meanwhile prop Joe Bullock has signed a new deal to stay at Warrington until 2026.
