'Burgess deal & Bateman arrival add to Wire buzz'

England captain and Warrington stand-off George Williams takes BBC Sport inside the Wire camp after a big couple of weeks for those in primrose and blue in Super League.

There are plenty of smiles about Warrington right now after back-to-back wins over old rivals St Helens and reigning champions Wigan.

In addition, the boss Sam Burgess has extended his contract for an extra year and an old mate of mine in John Bateman has joined until the end of the season.

Going to St Helens and Wigan is always tough, and for the group the benefit has been more about belief. We were beaten by Wigan in the Challenge Cup final and then had a rough couple of weeks after that because of confidence, so we've got that belief back now.

We're not getting carried away because there is still a lot to play for and a lot of games to be played. But it's a good place to be.

Matt Dufty is playing really well so he's feeling himself at the minute. He's really good around the place, bouncing from wall-to-wall but then he's playing like that too, so he's backing it up. But he's giving a lot of chat too.

Sam's done a really good job in that sense. Matt definitely didn't play as good as he is now and certainly not in the NRL so we're starting to see the best of him. He's also bought into what Sam is trying to achieve.

He's always been a good individual player but he's starting to do the team stuff too and his individual work is standing out more so. He's been really good for us.

Me and him do a lot of video together, [assistant coach] Martin Gleeson likes to call us 'The Flies' as we buzz around each other and we've got to follow each other, so we've got a good combination.

Burgess 'understands what top players need'

Sam's new deal is a big coup for Warrington. He's been brilliant. The biggest thing with Sam is he's not long out of it.

He was an elite player and that doesn't always make you an elite coach, but he is, he understands what the players need at certain times.

Sometimes it's hard to have a conversation with the coach when we as a group are sore, we don't need to train today and a lot of coaches don't get it. With Sam, if the senior group say "we're flagging a bit after a tough game against Wigan, why don't we do a recovery session on a Monday?" he listens to the boys.

It might sound like a little thing but you get the group onside and when you go back to training the next day, everyone trains harder than ever. It's giving us a little bit and we'll give everything we've got back.

Everyone just wants to play for him, he has high standards because he was a great player, knows what works and what doesn't, we're all just trying to follow his lead at the moment.

He has the banter, he still has all the chat, he's into the boys. A lot of lads consider him a friend which is what you want from a coach. Technically he knows what he's on about but I think a lot of it is man-managing your team which is something he's brilliant at. Matt Peet has been applauded at Wigan for how he manages his players and I feel like it works, that's how it works these days.

You have your assistants that are the gurus and the brains, and you have a man-manager in the coach.

Sam Burgess signed a new deal until 2026 on Tuesday

Bateman reunion on after Wests switch

It will be good to catch up with John Bateman again. It's mad how it goes 360, I played with him at Wigan a long time ago. We won Grand Finals together and played in the NRL together at Canberra. So many great memories.

But we can't seem to shake each other off. He'll be a great asset for us.

He's a winner, he's had a rough couple of years with Wests Tigers where their form hasn't been so good.

He'll warm into the banter, the lads will know him well after a couple of weeks. I wind him up saying he's old. I'm only 29 for a few months now, so I've got a bit of time to wind him up before I turn 30.

Vegas buzz and Magic returns

The buzz around Vegas was really good, it's massive, it got some good publicity and it was everywhere. I think that's what we need and branching out to America is also something that we need.

They love sport in general over there and a massive audience which hopefully we can tap into and showcase our great game. I still think it's the best and when people watch it they love it but we don't seem to get the eyes on it enough so I'm glad we're doing it.

Magic Weekend is coming up in a few weeks. I don't mind Magic at Leeds, I've played there once for England against New Zealand in 2018.

I liked it at Newcastle, maybe we'd been there a long time and some were maybe bored of it but I think it's great. It's a good day out for players, we enjoy it, and I think it's a good day out for the fans.

Jimmy Harrison is the happiest in our team that it's Leeds because he's a massive Leeds United fan - season ticket holder - so he's looking forward to it.

Will Liverpool ever sign someone?

As for my football team, I've been looking everyday to see if Liverpool have signed anyone, thinking "surely soon?!". But I believe in the new guy Arne Slot. He's got big boots to fill.

I was gutted when Jurgen Klopp left, mainly because I remember how bad we were before him.

There's a little bit of football banter at the moment, just Man United fans, typical, getting carried away. There's plenty of them at Warrington. We have a Fantasy League but I haven't done my team yet, I might as well set £20 on fire because I'm rubbish.

We've watched a little bit of the Olympics. If I were to give an Olympic event a whirl it would probably be the 100m or 200m. I'm pretty fast, I won't do myself down too much.

I keep winding Matt Dufty up because we get GPS readings when we play and I've ran faster than Dufty has since he's been at Warrington. I tell him that I'm faster than him.

I'm not really, though technically I am, I'm second in the team. Matty Ashton then me. I was probably running that speed for two metres, but they can probably hold it for 80.