Friday night’s defeat to Wigan Warriors means that Warrington Wolves have now lost their last three matches, and now sit in eighth place in the Betfred Super League, four points off the playoff spots.
The defeat to Wigan Warriors on Friday night was their twelfth of the season, and despite a Challenge Cup Final appearance, there has been very little for Wire fans to cheer about in 2025.
After being the best attacking and defensive side in the league last year, Sam Burgess looked to have transformed Warrington into a ruthless, clinical outfit that could challenge for silverware. However, they have gone backwards this season, and losses to Hull FC, Huddersfield and Castleford emphasise the decline.
Sky Sports pundits, Sam Tomkins and Jon Wilkin, were tasked to analyse the downfall of the Wolves, with both agreeing how frustrating their season has been.
“I think it’s disappointing, said Wilkin. “Warrington are capped up to the max, they’ve spent a lot of money, they’ve got a stellar coach, they’ve got a big support base, the expectations here are minimum make the six, so it’s been a disappointing year for Warrington.”
“They’ve had loads of bad luck, the mitigation for that is injuries, some decisions have gone against them, but over a too long a period of time they’ve been inconsistent within games and it’s probably not good enough for a club to spend the amount of money that they do.”
Tomkins agreed with the former St Helens man, touching on how the expectations at the Wolves are similar to those at his current club Catalans.
“Not making the six, a side as capable as Warrington, not getting in the six, certainly it’s not a great season, but what they’ve got to do now is look towards the end of the year” said Tomkins.
“I’m in a similar position at Catalans, you’ve got to improve every week and you want to finish your year showing that there’s something to build on. They don’t just want it to die out for the next six weeks.”
Sky Sports pundits agree inconsistency the key reason for Warrington Wolves downfall
Three wins against Hull FC, Salford and Catalans a month ago was the most wins they have achieved in a row this season. Either side of those three matches were shock defeats to the Giants and the Tigers. Winning those types of matches are non-negotiables for a club the size of Warrington, but it is results and performances like those that are the reason Wire are where they are.
Tomkins admitted when Sam Burgess arrived to the Halliwell Jones in 2024, defence was the thing he changed the most, and their solidity without the ball set a platform for their attack. However, the same can’t be said for the current campaign.
The Catalans full back said: “Their attack might be up and down week to week, but defensively they were very solid, and we’ve not seen that this year. We’ve seen games where Warrington have been way off the mark this year compared to last.”
Wilkin added: “I want to just summarise where Warrington are at. As we left this position here [at half time] to go up and watch the game, Warrington fans stopped me and Sam and said, ‘Are you finally going to give us credit and talk about us in good terms?’
“That’s a 40-minute performance. If that was the end of the game, I would understand it, but the second half shows to me what the issue with Warrington has been, and it’s patchy.
“They’ve been patchy all year, within games, within spells, within months, within six months of the season, they’ve just been patchy throughout it, and that’s not consistent at all.”
Burgess’ side face Catalans, Salford and Huddersfield in the next three weeks in what should be three very winnable matches. If Wire are to achieve the very slim possibility of making the top six, they need to win all their remaining fixtures and for results to go their way. However, it looks to little to late and they are set to have their first season without playoff football since 2022 when they finished 11th.
