AS a modern-day legend of the game, Sam Burgess acknowledges the profile he has within rugby league spheres.

However, he insists none of that will help him or his Warrington Wolves players as he embarks upon his first top-flight head coaching role.

Burgess will be 35 years old when the 2024 Super League season starts, making him the competition’s youngest head coach.

He drew parallels with his emergence onto the scene as a teenage sensation with Bradford Bulls but knows that, like then, he merely has a job to do regardless of age or profile.

“It’s all external for me,” he said when asked about being Super League’s youngest coach.

“I think I was the youngest Super League player at one point as well so that stuff just comes and goes.

“I don’t see myself as a young coach, nor did I see myself as a young player. You’ve just got to get on with the job.

“Having a profile and being recognisable isn’t going to help me coach. I’ve still got to connect with the players and grow that trust.

“I’ve got a good feeling about it but I won’t make any bold statements – it’s not going to help the team.

“We’ve got plenty of hard work to do between now and the start of the year, and then much more throughout the year.”

Chronic shoulder issues forced Burgess to hang up his boots early in 2019, and he started his coaching journey shortly afterwards in the pathways at South Sydney Rabbitohs.

There he worked under Wayne Bennett, under whom he played both at Souths and with England, and while he says he will seek the veteran Australian coach’s counsel on certain things, he is determined to do things his own way.

“Wayne’s main message was to be yourself,” he said.

“He said I was ready to coach and if I follow that, I won’t go too far wrong.

“I’ll rely heavily on my experiences and be authentic in how I approach things – I’m not going to copy anyone and I’ll manage it my own way.

“There will be things I’ll ask for advice on and lean on a couple of people that have done it for a number of years.

“When I retired, I took some time out and then jumped straight into coaching. I instantly knew that was what I wanted to do.

“I realised pretty quickly that I think I’m a better head coach than I am an assistant, so here we are.

“We’ll see how that goes over the next few years – I’m really excited and thankful for the opportunity.”