Warrington coach Sam Burgess offers passionate defence following Wigan defeat

Warrington boss Sam Burgess passionately defended his side following their 30-18 defeat at Wigan Warriors, insisting the Wolves were not complacent or out-enthused.

In a game where all the headlines pre-match were dominated by the number of injuries both clubs had within their ranks, Wire led 12-6 at the break.

But a second half collapse, which had at one point looked to have been stopped when Matty Ashton drew them back level at 18-18, ended in defeat.

Warriors youngster Josh Cartwright was the hero of the hour with a try-saver on Ewan Irwin which preceded Austin Daniel’s late try to seal victory for the hosts.

‘I’m not saying that about my team’

Burgess’ side have now lost three of their last four games, and have slipped to fourth on the Super League ladder as a result of Friday night’s reverse, with the potential of ending the weekend in fifth if Hull KR beat Wakefield Trinity.

Post-match at The Brick Community Stadium, the Wolves head coach was passionate in his defence of his side, batting off questions around them being out-enthused by Wigan on the night in addition to being complacent/

He said: “I’m not saying that about my team. (They were) not complacent and we didn’t get out enthused, we just didn’t execute.

“We started really well, we executed our plan and took some moments.

“We went down to 12 men (when James Bentley was sin-binned midway through the first half) and didn’t handle that very well.

“From the sin-binning onwards, we couldn’t find our rhythm.

“And when we found our rhythm for periods, we did get in control, but we had some big momentum swings, especially at the back end of the second half.

“It’s a tough loss. Wigan are a champion side with tough players and they know how to get the job done.”

Senior figures under the spotlight

Following their Magic Weekend defeat to Leigh last time out, Burgess did not entertain the question of his senior figures needing to step up.

However, when the question was put to him again following the loss at Wigan, he agreed with the statement.

Burgess admitted: “Some of my senior players weren’t at their best tonight.

“We didn’t get it right, we didn’t execute at times.

“We came to win tonight, but it felt like we let two points go, that’s the most disappointing and frustrating thing.”