Sam Burgess on Warrington Wolves win at Catalans Dragons

The man himself admitted the 16-8 victory in Perpignan over a Catalans Dragons side that had already beaten them home and away in 2024 was certainly "the most enjoyable" of his tenure so far.

Here is everything the Wire boss had to say post-match...

Q: All things considered, is that your best win?

SB: We’ve been gradually improving, especially with the ball, but we saw a different style of win tonight.

It was tough, it was gritty. We didn’t have much go our way in the first half – we basically defended for the whole half so to go in at 2-2 was good.

It was probably the most enjoyable win. Every win’s great, but that was a really special one.

It capped off a good week and I’m pleased for the team.

Sam Burgess and Sam Powell at full time (Image: Joe Richardson)

Q: As you mentioned there, you’ve shown you can blow teams away but tonight, you showed that grit that’s present in all top sides?

SB: The boys really care about each other and that’s important.

That comes through, especially when you’re on the back foot and you’re fatigued. You work hard for each other.

They came up with some great plays and they’re looking after each other out there, which is nice.

Q: You’ve already been here this season and lost, they came to your place and won as well so was there any extra motivation to come here and win?

SB: We try not to get too emotional about things. We try to keep things balanced.

The guys are motivated for every game but it’s nice to get the monkey off our back.

They’re a quality side – they had some rough things for them and I think they only had one sub in the second half so they didn’t have it all their own way but we needed those two points.

Q: We know Wembley is just around the corner – it would be easy for minds to wander but getting that kind of win is credit to their mentality, isn’t it?

SB: That’s not the team we’ve built.

They go pretty hard at everything so I didn’t expect them to take it lightly.

Q: You speak a lot about your pre-season and how it’s got you physically and mentally ready. Do you think that showed in that first half?

SB: That’s been building – we’ve had some tough games this year and we’ve shown a lot of fight.

We’ve known that is in the team.

The pre-season brought them all together and we understood the value of hard work. The fatigue they were feeling out there, they knew they’d been there before and had much worse in pre-season so it gives them confidence to stay at it.

Rodrick Tai makes a tackle on Tom Davies (Image: SWPix.com)

Q: Were you worried at all about how much that first half will have taken out of the tank?

SB: As a coach, you’re always worried. You want your team to do well.

We did a lot of work in the first half, but I’ve got a lot of confidence in our fitness and our ability to compete.

I knew if we stayed in the contest and picked a few moments that went our way, we’d have a good chance of getting the job done.

Q: What was the chat at half time because despite the tank theoretically running low, you found another level?

SB: I just showed them the stats – we were completing at 55 per cent and they were at 85.

I think they were in our half for the majority of that first 40, but I told them there was a real spirit in there.

It was a great opportunity for two points, so we said let’s not go to sleep in the second half!

Q: George Williams continues to come into his own as a leader, doesn’t he?

SB: He’s getting better every week.

Him and Duff are complimenting each other really well, Danny and Drinky are taking their moments and the spine is looking very connected.

It was a really comprehensive team performance.

George Williams scored the first Wire try and set up Matty Ashton for the other (Image: Neil Ashurst/P&B Pictures)

Q: Any injuries that you can immediately tell?

SB: Not that I really know about – Joe Philbin has a little groin issue so we’ll see how that pulls up.

Other than that, we’re okay.

Q: Have you given any sort of thought to how you’ll approach your team selection next week in a weird scenario for both you and Wigan?

SB: Not yet – I’ll see how we pull up.

We’ll make a couple of decisions early in the week next week.