Super League: Warrington Wolves extend flawless home winning record as Sam Burgess' side thump Bradford Bulls
Warrington Wolves moved second in Betfred Super League after Sam Burgess' side sealed a 26-12 victory against Bradford Bulls on Sunday; watch every game of Super League live on Sky Sports this season - including two matches in each round exclusively live
Last Updated: 24/05/26 5:59pm
Warrington ran in five tries as they beat Bradford 26-12 at the Halliwell Jones Stadium to climb second in the table and level on points with Betfred Super League leaders Leeds.
The Wolves, who maintained their 100 per cent home record in nine matches in all competitions this season, sit behind Leeds only on points difference with a game in hand and level on 18 points with third-placed St Helens.
Full-back Josh Thewlis, prop Luke Thomas and centre Albert Hopoate all went over to put Warrington in control in the first period, and Bradford responded through prop Jamie Gill as the home side led 14-6 at half-time.
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Bradford were unfortunate when the video referee disallowed Connor Wynne's score just before the interval which would have closed the gap to 14-10.
They were also made to pay for poor discipline, with winger Jayden Okunbor sin-binned for a high tackle before Thewlis opened the scoring.
But Warrington's teenage half-back Ewan Irwin, who was successful with three of his conversion attempts, touched down early in the second period.
Winger Matty Ashton raced in for Warrington's fifth try to extend their lead to 26-6 with 20 minutes remaining.
Bradford stand-off Jayden Nikorima's effort - half-back partner Chris Atkin landed both his conversion attempts - cut the deficit to 14 points with the game's final try.
But there was no way back for the newly-promoted visitors, who slipped to their eighth Super League defeat of the season.
"If you don't start well at this level you can get hurt and concede points," Bradford coach Kurt Haggerty said. "I thought we went down to 12 and then went down to 11 with the green card, which was a very bizarre situation.
"But ultimately, the effort and determination to keep working to stay in the game is pretty incredible, and I think it is just a sign of the group that we have."
Wolves finding form after purple patch
Warrington have a tough run of games coming up, with the Wolves to face Hull FC, St Helens and Leeds Rhinos in the next three weeks.
But Wolves centre John Smith believes his side have found their form just at the right time, after experiencing a purple patch in recent weeks.
"It was a pretty big game. We've gone away from our form in the last few weeks, definitely haven't played how we wanted to play," Smith said.
"Bradford came to play some footy today, great conditions and the fans turned out so it was mad. I'm Australian, and I'll say the English heat is no joke. You saw a few boys cramping, and we definitely had to drink a lot of water and Hydralyte.
"We'd love to be playing next week in the Challenge Cup final, but we're really trying to focus on being consistent and every day getting better and trying to make our performances add up. If we do that, our performances will stack up."
On playing his rugby in England, Smith said: "It's been mad. I can't speak highly enough of the competition and the people I've got at the club. Both on and off the field, Warrington are really looking after me."
Burgess praises young talent Irwin
Young half-back Irwin made his debut against St Helens in April 2025. He has since grown to becoming one of Warrington's most exciting young talents, having made nine appearances in Super League since then, booting 15 goals and setting up five tries.
Burgess hailed the youngster after the match, saying: "He's a wonderful player, we all know that, but this level requires him to develop and improve and we'll see that over the next 18 months.
"The great thing about Ewan is there's a lot of noise around him, you're all talking about him which is rightly so and he's very balanced. He comes from a wonderful family and he's very humble.
"At times, I've tried to push him to be a bit more assertive, but that will come as time goes on."
2026 Super League - key dates and what to look out for
- Super League in Paris: Sat June 6: Catalans Dragons vs Wigan Warriors (Paris), 6.30pm UK (Sky Sports)
- Magic Weekend: July 4-July 5
- Rivals Round reversed: July 23-July 26
- Elimination Play-offs: September 19-September 20
- Play-off semi-finals: September 26-September 27
- Grand Final: October 3, Old Trafford.
Sky Sports will again show every game of the Super League live this season - including two matches in each round exclusively live, with the remaining five matches each week shown on Sky Sports+
