Burgess' call for Wire fans to get behind academy side in curtain-raiser

WARRINGTON Wolves’ academy side will play on the big stage on Friday night – and Sam Burgess has urged supporters to get right behind them.

It was confirmed earlier this week that the academy fixture against Huddersfield Giants had been moved from a Saturday lunchtime date at Victoria Park to be the curtain-raiser for the Super League fixture between the two clubs.

The two under 18s sides will now go head-to-head at The Halliwell Jones Stadium at 5.35pm, with the first-team fixture then following at 8pm.

Warrington’s academy side are third in their competition this year, just behind leading pair Wigan Warriors and St Helens, as they bid to reach the Academy Grand Final for the second season in a row.

And Burgess is hopeful plenty of fans will elect to arrive earlier than usual to cheer the youngsters on.

“I think it’s amazing and a great experience for the young lads,” he said.

“Hopefully we’ll get plenty of fans in there to watch – the lads will be towards the back end of the game.

“We’ve got some exciting young players in that team, and Huddersfield will have some good players from the same area as I came through in Kirklees.

“Back in my day, we always used to play academy games as curtain-raisers and it was a great experience to play at big stadiums, getting half a crowd in and the fans cheering you on before the first-graders play.

“Hopefully we get a few in there watching them – it will be good to get a few thousand in there for the young lads.”