A tough month coming for injury-hit Warrington Wolves

But now July has finally arrived, it could not have come at a worse time for them and in order to get through it, they are going to need a few things – some we know they have, but others are beyond their control.

When the fixtures came out in November, any Wire fan could have been forgiven for having a sharp intake of breath when they cast their eyes to 2026’s seventh month to see two clashes with Leigh Leopards either side of games against Wigan Warriors and Hull KR – the three sides who finished first, second and third in the 2025 table while Warrington languished down in eighth.

But even though The Wire go into Magic Weekend looking down on all three of those sides from second spot in the table – quite far down when it comes to Leigh, who sit seventh – you do not have to scratch too far beneath the surface to see why supporters aren’t particularly thrilled about turning this page in the calendar.

And that notion goes beyond the opposition and the form they are in – even though Wire beat Leigh twice back in April, only Hull KR (twice) have beaten them in their nine games since, while the Robins and Wigan have now crept ominously up behind Warrington with the latter in particular looking in irresistible form.

This would be a taxing run of fixtures if Wire had their full-strength side available, but that will be far from the case.

At current count, Sam Burgess currently has 11 first-team players unavailable to him through injury and none of them appear to be particularly close to coming back – Toby King and Toff Sipley are probably the next cabs off the rank, but both are likely to be another fortnight at least.

With the possible exception of Leeds Rhinos, pretty much every Super League club is battling with injuries to key players. It is the nature of the beast and the best sides gear themselves up to manage it.

And despite a couple of bumps along the way and it not looking pretty at times, nobody can deny that Burgess’ boys have done a fine job of that overall – it obviously goes beyond this but to give a flavour of what they have been having to deal with, the head coach has not been able to start a Super League game with his first-choice ‘1-6-7-9’ spine of Cai Taylor-Wray, George Williams, Marc Sneyd and Danny Walker all in place since Round Four.

And then there’s the pack – Sipley, Luke Yates, James Harrison, Sam Stone, Joe Philbin and Jordy Crowther have all spent plenty of time on the sidelines this season. Crowther looks set for some more, while Yates is out for the season.

And yet, they still find themselves – by hook or by crook – second in the table. There will not have been too many putting them there after 16 rounds of action so for that, they deserve credit aplenty.

However, the squad is now at its most stretched at a really inopportune moment and rivals will be fancying their chances of cashing in.

Why has this happened for the second year in a row? Is it purely down to bad luck? Should they now help out their beleaguered squad with fresh impetus from outside?

All questions that need answering, but the answers won’t really help them in the short-term. Even in terms of recruitment, it is not as simple as “getting two or three props in” as many have asked for.

What difference will they make to the team? Can they fit into the salary cap? Are they the right fit culturally? Are they even interested in joining? All boxes that need to be ticked and even if they are, getting that player – or those players – in is going to take a few weeks.

And the biggest barring to that is Warrington’s own internal attitude towards mid-season recruitment. In spite of everything, they are still loathed to do it and would rather give opportunities to young players within their system.

Opinions will vary on whether or not that is the right approach, but it is the path they are on and they will not deviate from it.

That also means an acceptance that things will not always be smooth sailing and results like the one against Leeds Rhinos recently will happen. They are happy to take the short-term pain because their belief in the long-term gain is absolute.

It’s a brave approach that is rightly getting credit from observers, but it is also easy to see why it is a tough sell for a fanbase who have endured three turgid seasons out of the last four from which scars are still very fresh.

But the reality is this – the Warrington team over the next few weeks is going to have a pretty youthful look to it. While you’ll be able to guarantee effort, commitment and a never-say-die attitude from them – and we’ve seen plenty of that already – they are liable to get things wrong from time to time in this sink-or-swim environment.

What they are going to need from the stands is patience and support. The only way the club as a whole is coming through this in a handy position is if everyone in and around it is united.

While any fan is perfectly entitled to voice their displeasure if things aren’t going well – there were a small pocket of boos heard at half time against Catalans – maybe ask yourself what good it will do a largely young and inexperienced side?

By contrast, if all they can hear is the primrose and blue army behind them at every turn, it will lift them and allow them to perform free from pressure – and that can do pretty incredible things.

The ride could be about to get bumpy but whatever happens, now is the time to buckle up and take the journey together.