I WAS at the Warrington Wolves media day on Thursday, speaking to several players, along with the rest of the Rugby League journalists, and to their new head coach Sam Burgess.
I wasn’t quite sure how the afternoon would go but having experienced it, I’m prepared to revise my prediction for where the club will finish at the end of the season.
In the Rugby League media tipping competition I tipped Warrington to finish ninth, on the basis that they will have a very inexperienced coach at the helm.
But having been there and on the basis of my discussions with Sam and his players, I’m now persuaded that the club will be much more competitive than that and I would be surprised if they didn’t finish in a higher position than last year and certainly in the play-off places.
If you read George Williams’ comments in this week’s League Express, you may be able to detect the influence of their new coach and it all seems to be extremely positive.
I had feared that such a high-profile position might have come too soon for Sam, without him having served a sufficient apprenticeship, whether at South Sydney or elsewhere.
It’s early days, without an official match yet having been played, but I suspect that he has instilled the steel into his side that had been missing over recent seasons, helped by an excellent coaching team around him, including Gary Chambers, Martin Gleeson, Richard Marshall, Ade Gardner and Kylie Leuluai.
I could be wrong, but I do get the strong feeling that Warrington are on the right track and that success may not be too far away.
You can read Sam’s comments here and judge them for yourself.
