WARRINGTON WOLVES are entering a new era under new head coach Sam Burgess.
Appointed in his first professional head coaching capacity, former South Sydney Rabbitohs hero Burgess has his work cut out to transform Warrington from a seventh-placed side in 2023 to one fighting for trophies in 2024.
For assistant coach Richard Marshall, however, things are certainly looking up for the Cheshire club.
“He’s been great, I went out to Australia with the academy squad and I met him for a few days whilst he was in Sydney,” Marshall told League Express.
“I had a good chat with him about the club, the players, the backroom staff etc with lots of ideas being broached. It was really positive. I’ve now had a week working with him over here and he has backed up everything he said he was going to do.
“Things are looking really positive. Most coaches want a strong pre-season and talk about hard work, intensity and energy. Those areas are ones which we have gone after as a coaching staff.
“Not everyone is back in training yet, but the young lads – we had eight or nine in last week – were outstanding. The rest of the squad have been in and done a session that they probably haven’t done before.
“I learn off all the coaches I have worked with, whether at St Helens with Justin Holbrook, Kristian Woolf, Paul Wellens and Daryl Powell last year. Sam will be no different – he is a leader of men from his playing days and I think he will be a really good coach here.
“I enjoyed working with Daryl last year and I’m sure I will enjoy working with Sam this year.”
Though Warrington started the 2023 Super League season like a house on fire, winning eight games on the bounce, the year derailed and Powell lost his job towards the back end of the season.
Marshall believes that key additions and a good core of young players will be vital in helping Warrington maintain a positive start.
“If you rewind the clock 12 months I thought this group had a really strong pre-season and we started the season really well. The players were firing on all cylinders and then we had a bump mid-season and couldn’t quite get back on track.
“The challenge is to have equally as good a pre-season and start to the year and then maintain it – I’m sure Sam will set some goals there.
“Every coach has a different philosophy but the best coaches I’ve worked with have had a real good handle on the standards in and around training, on and off the field and Sam isn’t any different. He will be driving standards.
“I am interested in what these younger players can do like Leon Hayes, Adam Holroyd, Lucas Green, Luke Thomas. I think they are really going to kick on this year.
“I think there are a really good core of young players at the club and I don’t think we have probably had that depth before. In my experiences you need a strong squad, the rigours of Super League are tough and you need to be able to rotate and rest players.
“The players coming in, Leon Hayes won’t be far way from that starting 17, Adam Holroyd will be knocking on the door. They are a really good group.”
So why did the 2023 season go so awry for Warrington after such an impressive start?
“Lots of reasons, there were a couple of injuries to key players, a couple of disciplinary issues halfway through the year and we did a couple of things to the program that, with hindsight, didn’t work out. Hindsight is a wonderful thing.
“The squad isn’t too dissimilar, we have had made some astute additions to the squad which I think will improve key areas.
“Most of your foundations are set in pre-season and we are just slowly underway with all of that. We won’t go after too much, too early. We have got a smart squad here.”
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