STEFAN RATCHFORD says that Sam Burgess has already made his presence felt at Warrington Wolves – before even starting his future job as their head coach.
Former England great Burgess has signed a two-year deal to take over at Warrington from next season, with Gary Chambers remaining in charge for the rest of this year following Daryl Powell’s recent departure.
Since his retirement at the end of 2019, Burgess has worked on the staff at South Sydney Rabbitohs – where he spent the majority of his decorated playing career, having started out at Bradford Bulls – and is currently an assistant coach under Jason Demetriou.
He will soon get his first chance in a top job with Warrington, whose current captain Ratchford is already excited about the appointment.
“I spoke to him the other day, I got off the phone and straight away I was excited about it, just from the way he speaks and what his visions were moving forward,” said Ratchford, a former international team-mate of Burgess.
“The number of questions I’ve had off the lads since – I think there’s only me, George and Ben Currie (in Warrington’s team) that have been fortunate enough to play with Sam – have been non-stop. He’s already made his presence felt without actually being here.”
Ratchford expects Burgess to bring the inspirational leadership he showed as a player to the role of coach.
“The way Sam was as a player and the way he spoke, the way he went about the game, he was a really driven person and he got the best out of people around him,” he added.
“I was fortunate enough to play alongside him a few times and when he speaks, you listen and you believe everything he says.
“So if he’s transferred that to his coaching, whatever he says the lads will want to do it.
“He’s such a presence. Just the way he is, the way he speaks, you’re almost hanging on every word he says and you want to do it for him. You know he’d do it so you don’t want to let him down.
“He knows the game like the back of his hand. When he was a player he’d study it, he’d know the opposition, he’d know what they’re likely to do.
“He was a real student of the game and I’m sure he’s transferred that to his coaching.
“In Australia he’s getting rave reviews off all the people there so he’s obviously doing a good job.”
Burgess said of his appointment: “From playing in the Super League to having the opportunity to lead an incredible club, it’s a full-circle moment and one I am fully committed to and excited by.”
In the meantime, Chambers will continue to lead Warrington for the rest of this year alongside Richard Marshall (before moving to a director of rugby position), while the Wolves have also brought in their former player Martin Gleeson in an “advisory role”, specialising in attack.
“I’m happy to come back to the club and help in any way I can to support the team tactically for the rest of the season,” said Gleeson, who spent time as attack coach of the England national rugby union team under Eddie Jones and most recently worked at Featherstone Rovers.
“There’s a really good team at Warrington that’s probably just down on a bit of confidence at the moment. I want to help get them back playing to their potential.”
