Warrington Wolves coach’s squad admission as ‘disappointed’ young duo name-checked

Warrington boss Sam Burgess admits young forwards Max Wood and Luke Thomas were ‘rightly pretty disappointed’ to miss out on his squad last weekend, but says picking a 17 is tough given the Wolves’ form.

Wire thumped Castleford Tigers 72-6 at the Halliwell Jones Stadium last Saturday afternoon, with Kelepi Tanginoa scoring four tries and Matty Ashton grabbing a hat-trick on his long-awaited return from an ACL injury.

The victory ensured Burgess’ side’s 100% record across all competitions this term remained in-tact, with four wins from four in Super League added to by progressing into the Challenge Cup quarter-finals.

Their sternest test so far in 2026 awaits on Sunday afternoon though as they travel to Headingley to take on a Leeds Rhinos side favoured by many to go the distance this year under Brad Arthur.

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‘It’s tough to pick a 17 at the moment. I’ve got a lot of guys knocking at my door, and rightly so’

Speaking in his pre-match press conference on Wednesday afternoon, head coach Burgess delivered an update on his squad, which doesn’t appear set to change much ahead of this weekend.

Burgess explained: “Everyone’s pulled through well, so it’ll be the same number of players to select from which is good. There’s nobody back this week from injury.

“It’s tough to pick a 17 at the moment. I’ve got a lot of guys knocking at my door, and rightly so. A lot of guys are ready to play.

“We’ve got to make a couple decisions around who plays where, but touch wood, we’re in a fortunate position.

“They (Wood and Thomas) are both, rightly so, pretty disappointed not to be playing in the 17. They’re ready to be regular middles. They’re great lads and ready to go, it’s just not happening at the moment.

“Last week, I had Lachlan Webster on the bench because we had a niggle on the outside-backs, and it gave us a bit more variety and balance in the group. Whether I do that again, I don’t know.”

Elsewhere, Burgess will have to decide whether to stick with young gun Ewan Irwin in the halves or bring veteran Marc Sneyd back into the mix.

Irwin has delivered back-to-back impressive performances in the cup against Goole and last weekend in Super League against Cas, slotting home 25 goals alongside notching a try.

The Wire boss addressed his selection headache, saying: “It’s a balancing act with Ewan. He’s a very capable young man, but we also don’t want to overexpose him and put him in scenarios that aren’t going to be good for his development.

“Leeds is going to be a tough task, they’re a very good side. If he plays, it’ll be a very big test for him. We’ll see how it goes, and we’ve got Marc Sneyd who’s been there and done it all before.”