FOR the second season in a row, Warrington Wolves will end their regular season by fielding a much-changed team packed with young talent.
However, the circumstances this time around could not be more different.
With a play-off spot and a home eliminator tie already secure, Burgess has opted to give many of his front-line stars a rest for Toulouse Olympique’s visit to The Halliwell Jones Stadium tonight with eight changes made to the 21-man squad.
The squad Burgess has picked includes 12 academy graduates with three of them – forward Daniel Coop and half-backs Pat Irwin and Tommy Rhodes – in line for their Super League debuts.
It is a move made in direct contrast to this time last year when, with their play-off hopes long since gone and with injuries crippling the squad, a scratch Wire side visited Hull KR for a night that was supposed to be a stress-free coronation for the Robins as League Leaders’ Shield winners.
Warrington made life difficult for them, eventually subsiding to a 28-20 loss and having also pushed Wigan Warriors close when making this many changes during a game in 2024, Burgess has every reason to believe the next generation can make a good fist of things against the impressive French side.
“This year, circumstances are much better than last year so we’re happy with that.
“We did similar in 2024 before Wembley and we had a great contest against Wigan with a lot of younger players in there.
“We’ve done it in the past and they have always been really enjoyable weeks – you see a lot of joy from the lads who are coming in, and also the older boys tend to step up and take care of the younger fellas.
“Gary Chambers (director of rugby) has a vision and I’m so aligned with him on that, and also Ryan O’Brien (head of youth and reserves head coach) with our pathways programme.
“It’s their vision – sometimes it takes a bit of bravery but over the years, they’ve never let the club down and it gives you more confidence to do it.”
Warrington do still need a result from the game in order to secure third place in the table, although Burgess has declared himself “not too fussed” about whether or not his side end up in third or fourth place by the end of the evening.
They also have the opportunity to equal their best ever Super League home record of 12 victories from 13 matches, but standing in the way of them doing that are a Toulouse side who have been one of the competition’s success stories.
Alongside York Knights, they were selected by an independent panel to take the final two places in an enlarged competition with half the usual amount of central funding but have confounded predictions of a struggle.
They are set to finish eighth in the table but with the make-up of next year’s competition again set to be made up by the latest IMG gradings, their place in Super League for next year may still be under threat with London Broncos pushing aggressively for a return.
As such, tonight may be their final Super League game for at least a year, but Burgess is hoping that is not the case.
“Those questions don’t surprise me,” he said when asked whether losing TO would be a shame.
“I think it’s great for the game that they’re in and hopefully, that continues.
“They’ve been enjoyable to watch, especially in this last month or so. They’ve scored some lovely long-range tries out of the back-field and they’re playing with a bit of flair.
“That champagne rugby they play can be difficult to prepare for as it can be unpredictable at times, but I like what they’ve done all season.
“They’re sitting eighth in the league and that’s impressive – they’ve done a wonderful job.”
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