They had beaten the teams they were supposed to beat – with the probably exception of Hull KR away from home – and lost the games that had been deemed more difficult to call, namely home and away games against Catalans Dragons.
The tests were due to keep coming in April, with three of their four games being away from home against sides at the right end of the table at that stage, starting with the trip to Headingley to take on Leeds Rhinos.
With several key men missing, particularly in the pack with Zane Musgrove and Joe Philbin injured and Paul Vaughan suspended, Wire’s plans were hampered further by the mysterious absence of Toby King.
It mattered little, however, as Burgess’ boys put on arguably their most eye-catching display of the season by beating a Rhinos side who at that point were still being backed for a strong campaign 34-8.
It was a dominant display on both sides of the ball, and the night that Ben Currie really announced himself as a rejuvenated ball-playing loose forward, with his “long look, play short” assist for Joe Bullock a stand-out moment.
However, it was the game that followed it that made people really sit up and take notice.
When the Challenge Cup quarter-final draw handed Warrington a trip to St Helens, many prepared themselves for more pain at the hands of their neighbours and for dreams of Wembley to be shelved for another year.
How wrong they were…
Saints were stunned by the undoubted high point of the Burgess era to date, with Wire running out 31-8 winners to end a run of seven meetings with the men in the Red Vee without a victory before celebrating in front of a jubilant away end at the Totally Wicked Stadium.
Matty Ashton’s gravity-defying finish in the corner was an undoubted highlight and came at a moment at which the game was finely poised, with Warrington not looking back from there as further tries from Connor Wrench, James Harrison and George Williams sealed a special victory.
Once the well-wishes for Hayes died down, there were signs of the kind of social media meltdown that followed Wire around like a bad smell during the two years that preceded this one
The defeat came in Round Nine – the point at which their dramatic collapse in form the previous year started – so there were plenty predicting similar.
While the general feeling was that train of thought seemed overly dramatic, there were clearly things Burgess needed to address amid more positive signs from his side.
However, they had built upon their foundations and given themselves a chance to do something special.
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