Everything Warrington Wolves coach Sam Burgess said after St Helens win

Warrington Wolves coach Sam Burgess met with the media in his post-match press conference after his side beat St Helens 23-22 in golden point.

Burgess was asked about his side’s turnaround, George Williams’ dazzling display, the atmosphere and next week’s semi-final against Hull KR.

Here’s the review and rundown of everything that Burgess said in the Wolves debrief.

Have you managed to settle down yet after that?

“I have actually. There were a lot of emotions during that game because we probably weren’t at our best early doors and we’re playing a champion side in St Helens who have been here plenty of times before and probably got us for experience.

“They had us in the first half but a couple of players helped change that for us in the second half and we were strong enough to come over and get the win: but there were a lot of emotions to go through in the 85 minutes that we played.”

You’ve been involved in a lot of big games, was that up there for you as a spectacle?

“Not as a head coach! I thought we had a couple of opportunities to close the game out, but we’ll take a lot out of tonight, mainly the win but there’s a couple of bits of detail that we can look at that.

“We’ve learnt again, we’ve learned some great lessons as a group and we’re going to have to be better on Friday over in Hull so we’ll look forward to that this week now.”

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You were 16-10 down at half-time, what did you feel you had to change at the break?

“We were losing the physicality, that’s the Saints trademark for the last five six years. They were just beating us to the punch with it and winning the field position battle.

“We just weren’t making great choices. We could have been better but we went in at 16-10 thanks to George Williams. George came up with a big play before half-time.

“I thought he had a wonderful game did George, he’s had a great year but some of his moments tonight – excluding the drop goal – I thought it was a wonderful game from an individual player.”

You’ve just mentioned George, what a performance…

“He’s worth every penny for nights like tonight! He’s a great bloke, I played with George for a number of years at England so I know what he is about and I am just proud that he grabbed it by the scruff of the neck tonight, laid it on for Kingy a couple of times and finished it off with a field goal.”

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Coming from behind, do you feel like that mentality and character you showed is the sort of stuff that wins Grand Finals?

“I’ve seen the character of the group all year so I’m not surprised that they tried right until the end. They came away with it because I’ve seen the character of the group all year and that goes right back to November or December time in pre-season, so I always know they never stop trying to win and that’s led by George, he’s a very competitive guy. I don’t know if tonight lifts the trophy for us, we’ve got to get better.”

What was going through your head when Mark Percival slotted the conversion from the touchline to send the game into extra-time?

“I had sent a message down to get ready for golden point because he’d kicked great all night and I’ve played with Percy and he likes those moments. I’d probably back him to kick it rather than miss it so I expected it to go over.

“I dare say that’s the calmest we were as coaches in the box and I thought the players re-grouped quite well there and managed to execute.”

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Any injuries picked up?

“I don’t know yet. I’ll speak to my medical staff afterwards and go from there. It was a really physical, great game to watch for the neutral I can imagine, it was an unbelievable atmosphere and the players delivered. We’ve got a few sore bodies with them down there so we’ll check in with them in the morning, let them have a good night’s sleep.”

What does your week look like from here?

“It starts on Monday. We’ll review and recover it tomorrow and the guys have got to recover. We were just talking with the staff, we’ll get a read on how the players pull up and decide how the week ahead looks but not much will change with the content, maybe we’ll just give them an extra day off if they need it.”

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The fans and the atmosphere inside the Halliwell Jones Stadium…

“I thought they were outstanding. What a great way to leave the Halliwell Jones for the year, the boys were enjoying it that much they wanted it to go to golden point! It wasn’t to my liking, but what a great stadium to play at.

“I think everyone can agree it’s a great atmosphere when it’s full and both sides, I thought Saints were great and travelled in numbers, but the Warrington fans filling out the Halliwell Jones… It was great to finish the year in that sort of way. Hopefully all of those fans have the desire to come back next year and see a team that is playing pretty hard for the town.”

Hull KR away next week, you’ll have to be even better won’t you?

“I think we have to improve on a few things. I think we were just a bit off in a couple of areas so we’re certainly going to have to improve.”

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