Warrington Wolves 2025 season review
- Overview
- Highs
- Lows
- 2025 RLB Player of the Year – Luke Yates
- Reasons to be positive in 2026
- My 2025 prediction – 2nd
- Final 2025 position – 8th (-6)
Overview
For a side that went so close in 2024, Warrington’s drop-off in 2025 was alarming.
Granted, they did make the Challenge Cup Final for a second-straight year, which they lost agonisingly in the dying minutes.
Their league form was abysmal though, and despite a mid-season rally of three straight wins to briefly threaten the top six, they went on to lose eight of their last nine games to finish 10 points shy of the play-off spots.
Highs
Warrington started the year pretty well with four wins in six games, and they were as high as 3rd when they knocked St. Helens out of the Challenge Cup in April.
Some of their younger players stood up throughout the campaign too. Arron Lindop was establishing himself in the backline before injury prematurely ruined his season, while Jake Thewlis scored 12 tries and Cai Taylor-Wray did enough to get the number one jersey ahead of 2026.
Lows
One win from their final nine games tells its own story, and that included defeats to the bottom three sides. The home loss to Salford, in particular, was a shocker given the season they had.
Off the field, there were plenty of dramas too. Zane Musgrove was kicked out of the club mid-season for an incident that was never fully disclosed, while Matt Dufty was dropped late in the year for disciplinary reasons, and he’s been stripped of his number one jersey for 2026.
Meanwhile, captain George Williams refused to sign a new contract, in order to have another crack at the NRL from 2027, while coach Sam Burgess openly courted attention from Perth Bears.
A lot gets said about culture, and from the outside looking in, Warrington’s was quite possibly the worst in Super League in 2025.
2025 RLB Player of the Year – Luke Yates
No one stood out for the Wire in 2025, but Yates stood up and made himself counted time and time again in a struggling side. He finished the year as the team’s top tackler with 750.
Reasons to be positive in 2026
It’s hard to imagine the Wire being as poor again in 2026, although Catalans proved me wrong on that theory this year.
Still, Warrington have already made plenty of moves when it comes to recruitment, and it’s hoped that some of the bad eggs will be rooted out.
Toafofoa Sipley and Albert Hopoate will bring plenty of NRL experience with them when they arrive from Manly and Canberra respectively, while Liam Byrne and James Bentley will add some Super League nous.
And in case you missed it, the academy side toured Australia at the end of the year with a lot of success, including a 50-10 hammering of Penrith Panthers. Expect to see a few more youngsters make their way into the first team in 2026.
My 2025 prediction – 2nd
Final 2025 position – 8th (-6)
I had an absolute shocker here, but Warrington’s drop off was alarming. I’m definitely expecting an improvement next year, but 2nd looks a big stretch.
