COMMENT: Reporting on Warrington Wolves is officially fun again (2024)

I LOVE my job, and I always have done.

However, 2024 has been the year in which I fell back in love with it. That may sound slightly strange, but let me explain…

Ever since the chastening teenage revelation that I was not good enough to play sport for a living, I have wanted to report on it and write about it.

In that respect, I have been living my dream since joining the Warrington Guardian in 2016 and I understand how privileged I am to be in such a position.

The past couple of years, however, have been difficult – the only period in which doing what I do has felt like something remotely resembling a chore.

While in no way wishing to compare it to the experience of being a Warrington Wolves fan during such a period, reporting on a team that is losing most weeks is absolutely no fun whatsoever, even if it does give you plenty to get your teeth into from a journalistic point of view.

All the while, there have been abusive messages, my professional integrity was openly questioned on several occasions and after one particularly disappointing game, I was confronted by a now-departed player in a non-violent but less-than-pleasant manner while walking back to my car (and before you ask, I won't be naming and shaming out of the small amount of respect I still retain for the aforementioned).

I’ve been in this job for long enough to know and accept that, rightly or wrongly, things like this are part and parcel of the position I hold but on a purely human level, it can get you down – and it did.

I am happy to admit that around the end of last summer, I had genuine and sustained thoughts about moving on. And then the phone rang.

I couldn’t quite believe what the voice on the other end of the line, who is a source I trust implicitly, was telling me. I very nearly laughed and put the phone down.

Sam Burgess coming back to England to coach Warrington Wolves? Surely not.

“Typical starstruck Wire,” cried some. “Borderline negligence,” said others.

Of course, I had to be more balanced and reasoned with my judgement but at a time in which resentment and apathy among the fanbase appeared to be at an all-time high, it felt like quite the gamble.

While foreseeing a collective meltdown should it have gone wrong, I felt like I had to stick around to see how it would work in practice and back from the metaphorical ledge I stepped.

For people my age, Burgess was the pin-up boy for rugby league in this country in our time and was the closest thing we had to a name that transcended the sport in the modern era. My Dad does not know the first thing about the game and cares little for sport in general, and even he knew who he was.

And I know I won’t be alone in saying he was one of my favourite players growing up.

My late Grandad and I were at the third Great Britain vs New Zealand Test at Wigan in 2007 when the teenaged Burgess made his breakthrough and when he scored the try that looked set to propel England to the 2013 Rugby League World Cup final against the same opponents at Wembley, I was sat behind those very posts with a group of university friends. So close I could pretty much see the whites of his eyes.

Fast forward a decade and I was shaking hands with the man himself having been invited to meet him during the earliest days of pre-season.

Before that day, I can honestly say I have only felt starstruck twice in my years at the Guardian – meeting Tony Smith for the first time on what was my second day on the job, and interviewing Greg Inglis when he came over for that very brief spell in 2021.

I could now add a third to that list, but it had to be parked quickly for he was no longer the hero of my youth. He was the Warrington Wolves head coach – the fourth I have worked with – and there was a job to do.

One change I did like was a return to in-person press conferences before every match, with most other Super League clubs continuing to hold them remotely via Zoom.

As well as eliminating the free-for-all those Zoom calls can descend into, that personal touch allowed myself and others that attended on a weekly basis to build a working relationship with Burgess, who was generous in giving his time even when recording had stopped.

Indeed, there were occasions in which those weekly meet-ups bore a closer resemblance to a group of mates in the pub than to journalists grilling a head coach.

It was certainly a tick in the box but ultimately, Burgess would be judged by what happened on the field and the season started amid a somewhat strange atmosphere, in my opinion.

While Burgess had won a few people over with his pre-season words and actions, one got the sense that it would not take much for fans to start turning on the team, which was largely the same one that collapsed so dramatically the previous year.

And as the first couple of months went largely to people’s expectations, the overriding feeling was that while progress was being made, the gap between where Wire were and where fans wanted them to be was still very wide.

But as spring sprung, something started to catch fire.

Not that there hadn’t been signs before then – the way in which Burgess threw his weight behind young players such as Leon Hayes, Adam Holroyd, Max Wood and Arron Lindop made him and his team much more identifiable, while the win at Hull KR in Round Four got plenty of approving nods.

The way in which the team turned up at Headingley in Round Seven with a depleted pack, only to merely shrug their shoulders and get on with it by dispatching a Leeds side who at that point were still pretty well fancied got a few more.

Then, there was Saints away – the point at which a heaving throng of doubters were converted into being believers.

Of course, we all now know that this was not a classic Saints vintage but watching a group of players that had caused Warrington nothing but pain in the previous two years be systematically dismantled was a joy to watch.

More was to follow, but that Challenge Cup victory felt like a real seminal moment – a thrusting-off of the shackles.

The highlights kept coming – a highly impressive home win over Hull KR, the fun in the St Helens sun for the Challenge Cup semi-final as Huddersfield were blitzed in front of a sea of primrose and blue to send Wire back to Wembley, the Alamo-style victory in Perpignan and the battering of Wigan on their own turf to name but a few.

It was not just the fact they were winning games, though, it was how they were doing it – the togetherness and spirit with which they defended their line, and the verve and gusto with which they attacked at the other end.

This was a team transformed and they were a pleasure to watch for fans and local sports reporters alike.

Like the rest of you, I want to be going to Wembley and Old Trafford to see the biggest gamesbut even aside from that, Wire matches were enjoyable again andvisits to the training ground saw you greeted by the most pleasant of atmospheres.

Naturally, winning games lends itself to that but even around some of the crushing disappointments they endured in that time – namely the Challenge Cup Final defeat and the manner of it – the vibe never dispersed.

In short, they made people happy. The 2024 season made Warrington Wolves supporters – and this reporter – fall back in love with going to watch them on a weekly basis.

Of course, there is still work to do – barriers have been broken down this season but now, they have to find a way to win when everything is on the line.

They couldn’t do it at Wembley and despite not freezing in the bright lights in the Super League semi-finals, they couldn’t get the job done at Hull KR.

With Wigan looking well-set for another dynasty of dominance, breaking their stranglehold will take something special but after some lean years, Warrington are at least heading in the right direction.

And there’s exciting things to come, not least the trip to Las Vegas to take on the Warriors in March in what will be a ground-breaking moment for the game as a whole.

Reporting on Warrington Wolves is officially fun again, and you get the sense the journey is just beginning.

COMMENT: Reporting on Warrington Wolves is officially fun again (2024)
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