\n In some respects, head coach Sam Burgess believes they did as he proclaimed he felt his side deserved more for their efforts \u2013 even if he did admit that statement \u201cmight sound a bit silly.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n However, he highlighted his side\u2019s left-edge defence as \u201creally letting them down\u201d as four of Leigh\u2019s six tries came down that side of the field.\n<\/p>\n
\n The Wire were beaten 34-12 in their final home game of the 2025 season, with Toby King and Josh Thewlis scoring late consolations when the game had long since been lost.\n<\/p>\n
\n Here is everything Burgess said in his post-match press conference, including his tribute to the retiring Stefan Ratchford \u2013 and the role he\u2019d like him to play at the club moving forward\u2026\n<\/p>\n
\n Q: Your thoughts on the game please, Sam?\n<\/p>\n
\n SB: I think the scoreline probably doesn\u2019t reflect our effort.\n<\/p>\n
\n That might sound a bit silly but that\u2019s how I feel about the game.\n<\/p>\n
\n We gave away eight errors and a kick out on the full, the territory was about 80 per cent against us and we went in at 10-0.\n<\/p>\n
\n They scored off a kick and a bad defensive read so we withstood a lot of pressure, but it did take its toll in the second half.\n<\/p>\n
\n I\u2019m pleased we got off the canvas so to speak. I\u2019m pleased in some respects.\n<\/p>\n
\n Q: First and foremost, you needed some kind of response to last week but do you feel you got that?\n<\/p>\n
\n SB: In some respects.\n<\/p>\n
\n The scoreboard isn\u2019t anywhere near on our side but we lost Leon, who\u2019s broken his arm, and you don\u2019t really prep for anything like that.\n<\/p>\n
\n That threw us out and it took us a little while to adjust.\n<\/p>\n
\n There was so much effort from a lot of players but some of our left-edge defence is really letting us down. Really letting us down.\n<\/p>\n
\n They\u2019re a great attacking side and they made us pay in the end.\n<\/p>\n
\n Q: You mentioned the errors earlier \u2013 is that a lack of confidence?\n<\/p>\n
\n SB: We had four or five in our half so we did well to withstand a lot of pressure.\n<\/p>\n
\n The errors are probably a sign of a group trying to find a bit of confidence, but I suspect we\u2019ll be better next week.\n<\/p>\n
\n Q: A word for Stefan Ratchford \u2013 a great servant to the club and although I\u2019m sure you\u2019d have liked to have sent him out in better circumstances, a well-deserved reception for him?\n<\/p>\n
\n SB: We all know he\u2019s such an awesome guy. He\u2019s very professional and really cares about his performances, and has done for a long time.\n<\/p>\n
\n I\u2019m pleased I\u2019m here with him in this part of his career \u2013 it\u2019s a shame that this is his last season but he\u2019s had so many amazing moments.\n<\/p>\n
\n He\u2019s moving on to his next chapter now with his beautiful family \u2013 his three young girls and his wife Kirsty \u2013 so whatever is in his future, he\u2019ll be in a good place.\n<\/p>\n
\n Q: Would you be keen to keep him here in some sort of off-field capacity?\n<\/p>\n
\n SB: In some capacity, he could add some value.\n<\/p>\n
\n There\u2019s quite a lot to figure out in the background but I\u2019m sure we\u2019ll get there and work out something that works for Stef and for us.\n<\/p>\n
\n Q: How important are these next two games for you against sides still with a lot to play for?\n<\/p>\n
\n SB: Just as important as today.\n<\/p>\n
\n There\u2019s things today that I\u2019m looking at and I can see our application is miles better, which gives us something to build on.\n<\/p>\n
\n We\u2019re trying to feel a certain way and reconnect in a certain way. We\u2019ll start that tomorrow and hopefully, it turns into our performance on Saturday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In some respects, head coach Sam Burgess believes they did as he proclaimed he felt his side deserved…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":119604,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[5903,101,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-119603","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-rugby","8":"tag-rugby","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119603","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=119603"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119603\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/119604"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=119603"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=119603"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=119603"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}