However, he labelled criticism of his middle unit “disrespectful” after a display in which his side struggled to contain a physical Catalans Dragons outfit.
Despite going into a 10-0 lead in the first half and retaking a 16-10 advantage in the second, The Wire fell to their second – and by far heaviest – loss of 2026 to date as a rampant Dragons side ran in 28 unanswered second-half points at the Stade Gilbert Brutus.
The platform for Catalans’ fightback came via a pack that enjoyed a clear physical advantage on the night, but Burgess insists he retains faith that his forwards can handle Super League’s bigger middle units, albeit he did admit his side were clearly second-best in that area.
“I think so, yeah,” he said when asked whether or not immediate criticism of his pack for a lack of size was unfair.
“We lost a game against a very good side. I understand the question but it’s maybe a bit disrespectful to the team.”
He continued: “We lost the game in a lot of areas tonight, moreso the physical side.
“I must say I thought Catalans were very good – they played with a lot of energy and they made us pay for it.
“We had a tough period in the first half and we didn’t manage well out of the back of that.
“Like when we win well, we bring ourselves back down to Ground Zero and go again.”
After Jake Thewlis and George Williams had established an early lead for the visitors, Matty Ashton’s sin-binning proved to be a turning point and Catalans pulled level while he was off the field.
And although Warrington did retake the lead upon his return through Josh Thewlis’ long-range try, Burgess admitted how things caught up with them quickly as Les Dracs motored clear.
“That period itself wasn’t where we lost it, but we didn’t manage well after it,” he said.
“Although we were 10-0 up, we didn’t quite look ourselves. We didn’t have that same energy that we’ve been bringing.
“We’ve played eight or nine games now and these things do happen, so we need to reset and go again.”
The result – and the manner in which it came about – is a clear blow to the early-season momentum Warrington had built courtesy of eight wins from nine competitive matches.
But with a huge clash with Wigan Warriors just six days away, Burgess insists it is not a result or performance they will panic about.
“When we win well, we stay level and it’s the same when we lose,” he said.
“We’ll take out the game what we need and look at things we need to improve.
“A lot of them are really simple – in terms of effort areas, we weren’t quite pushing as hard as we have been off the ball and defensively, we lost the collision.
“I thought Catalans were very good – they had a lot of youthful energy out there with two great halves and they made us pay for it.”