Well that's the kind of cynicism I usually go in for myself, so I know where you're coming from! Tom did say he wanted to make it here though and even if, in truth, he actually fancied going a little bit, I can understand why he would choose to remain here, away from the rest of the "burgess show" in Aussie.

Whilst remaining realistic, I hope he stays at Odsal and becomes a star in his own right, away from the pressure of the South Sydney goldfishbowl. I think his mother is still here, and undoubtedly she will have other family here too, so hopefully she'll stay, 'cos if she went it might be the writing on the wall, or at the very least one less reason for Tom to stay.

Don't get me wrong Bulliac, I think he wants to stay for the reasons you mention and I really hope he does. Club has to look after their own interests though and thats where I'm coming from with the contract. Long deal and the associated cost of buying him out of it would also put some clubs off going for him. If he has turned down an offer, then its a good way to reward him and show the club appreciates his potential.

With any luck the clubs prospects generally will improve over the next few seasons to the point where we become a much more attractive club and the temptation goes away. Then the rest of the Burgess clan can come crawling back!

Tommy needs to lose a few pounds if he is to cultivate the ripped physique of sibling Sammy and become our new poster boy. I reckon if Macca was still at the club he would have encouraged this as Macca liked his mobile forwards with ball-handling skills and bed-in in the back row and centres if needed.

Thats exactly what he said he was doing in the RLeeds interview, losing a few pounds during the offseason, so I dont think you will be disappointed. a diet of skerret and mcdermot videos wouldnt be a bad idea either!

Absolutely mate, couldn't agree more, it's just that....going back to an earlier post - I hope Tom has better council than someone who's hoping to make a killing from moving him on, cos somehow I can't imagine an agent being too keen on him being tied down for too long, no matter how good a deal it was for the player.