A TRIP to Whitehaven will be completely alien to most of Warrington Wolves’ players – but not their head coach.

And having experienced the passion for rugby league on display in one of the game’s most distant outposts first hand, Sam Burgess is hopeful his side can “put on a show” for those who turn out to watch them on Saturday.

The Wire’s competitive season kicks off in a different manner, with a revamp of the Challenge Cup handing all Super League ties a trip to lower-ranked opposition having entered at the third-round stage.

Whitehaven beat fellow League One side Swinton Lions on January 25 to earn the right to welcome Burgess’ boys to their Ortus Rec home ground this weekend.

“It’s going to be awesome and we’re looking forward to the trip,” the Wire boss said as he prepares his side to hopefully go one better in this year’s competition having lost the 2024 final to Wigan Warriors.

“I actually played in Whitehaven back in 2009 and it was a great experience.

“There’s great passion for the game there and we’re looking forward to putting on a show hopefully.

“We want to go and win the game as there’s a lot on the line. We’ve got to get the job done.

“They’ll come with plenty of effort – they’ll be pretty excited. I watched their last two games and they’ll be gearing up for a big game, so we’ll be doing the same.

“I watched them against Swinton and I think they rested a few players last weekend, which tells me they’re gearing up for a big game.

“It’s brought a bit of excitement and we’ve been talking about that this week.

“It poses a bit of a challenge too – we’ve got to figure out a strategy while working out which way the opposition is going to go as it’s a bit of an unknown for us.

“Hopefully on Saturday afternoon, the cup will still be magical for us!”

The revamp aimed at breathing new life into rugby league’s oldest knockout competition has been met with some criticism, including the raising of player welfare concerns amid the prospect of amateur players going up against full-time professionals.

St Helens, Leeds Rhinos and Hull FC have all been drawn to face community clubs and while he believes the rethink is well-intentioned, Burgess admitted there were “probably better ways to do it.”

“There’s a number of risks involved, isn’t there,” he said.

“It’s a new concept but there’s a duty of care think people probably need to look a bit deeper at, I’d say. Thankfully, we’ve got Whitehaven.

“People above me come up with these decisions but there’s probably better ways to do it.

“We’ll just get on with it – we’ve got a good draw this week and it will be a good physical challenge for us.”

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