It would be a massive coup for the game over here if Leeds did sign him, however if one of Leeds or Souths sign him I will be happy either way.

If Bath refuse to let him break his contract would Sam be willing to sit it out? I guess not.

I think the thinking is that he'll go to Leeds for a year, as the NRL clubs are at full cap, and then go back to Souths. Which is probably the best scenario for all concerned, SL and Leeds get the publicity, but then Sam gets to go back to the superior NRL and get back in monster form for the world cup.

A lot of NRL clubs won't be at full cap, there's a lot more moving between now and the start of the season.

Who's not at full cap?

But would he want to play for anyone but Souths? He and Crowe see very close, and then of course there's his brothers.

plenty of clubs, Souths for instance have lost Luke, Stewart and Lowe and have signed Oldfield and cook.

Penrith have just lost Idris, Gold Coast Gordon and eels Paulo.

If burgess or Hayne became available a lot of clubs would and could find the room.

I don't agree. Lots of clubs have massive cap issues Parra being one, Paulo (he would be on peanuts) out but Gutherson in.

There will be low end earner squad filling movement I can agree.

Teams with genuine space are probably the Raiders and Titans, and other teams nobody who's any good really wants to play for.

If Souths had the space they would sign Burgess, they might off load a player like Walker to make space but only coz they want rid due to the drugs, Penrith could be a club looking for players but Idris is gone due to issues. Gould and Penrith are all about building culture so Walker is probably off their radar.

At this stage Souths have got to clear some space quick without wrecking their squad. People have missed the elephant in the room which is Burgess and Madge don't like each other. The word is a lot of those blokes are playing for Crowe not Madge.

I don't think it's as straight forward as you do.

Well of course no one has $1m spare but it would be easily cleared if you had $500,000 spare. Souths could punt McQueen, grant or Walker and get Burgess on a back loaded contract.

The clubs who have issues are normally on the structure of their cap rather than going massively over.

Remember eels still have Hopa to sort out, he's on massive money. His space is still there but he hasn't signing a deal.

I very much doubt anyone's signing a new deal with Souths if they hate Madge because the owner, who attends 60% of games, likes them.

Remember the NRL will not allow anymore back ended deals thanks to the Tigars, Parra and Manly.

The clubs would be in uproar if the NRL show Souths anymore favouritism.

Manly, Penrith and Souths have all declared their interest in signing Sam

As for Souths next year, I really don't think its a great idea to get Sam back at the expense of offloading the likes of Walker. The year before they won the comp they had virtually the same forward pack and poor threequarters and were completely one-dimensional as a result. If they have to offload outside backs to shoehorn Sam into the team they'll be likely to be just as imbalanced and one-dimensional.

That would be a really poisoned chalice for all concerned as expectations on how Sam and Souths perform if and when he returns will be astronomical. He'd only get a matter of weeks before the media would start to question his value if Souths aren't ripping up the competition. SBW would be used as a direct comparison - he comes to the Roosters and they go from no-hopers to champions in a single season. If Sam doesn't have a massive impact there will be all sorts of articles about how he's a waste of money.

If Sam does go back to Souths it might work a lot better for all concerned if its 2017 - it gives Souths more chance to rejig their squad in a controlled way, give Sam a chance to prove he can "make it" in RU, and make Ford and co at Bath look less silly for having taken a punt on him.

I still think he'll at least see out his contract at Bath. His future on RU will largely depend on who the next England coach is. If its Eddie Jones he will have a good chance of being picked again relatively soon, as Jones knows the quality of the NRL. If its an English rugger type then I'd be surprised if he got another sniff for some time.

Souths should punt any one player to get Burgess back. Including Inglis.

It's not easy. Think of the discussions and legal agreements that are needed to underpin any change - salary, transfer fee, sponsorship deals, options for the future etc.

For Sam himself, he needs to return to RL now. For him, best option is a one year deal at Leeds. The lad had his face smashed up in his last RL match and it is now full of metal pins and plates; I'm pretty certain he hasn't regained full confidence yet as a consequence. It would be asking too much to go straight back to the physicality and intensity of NRL just yet.

A year in Super League would be tough enough and would show up whether Sam can get back to being the world's best forward. The lawyers then need to get what if scenarios covered for subsequent years, whether it be stay at the Rhinos, go back to Bath or go to South Sydney.

No wonder the behind the scenes stuff is taking some time!

going to leeds then back to bath is simply not an option. pointless exercise of going back to league for 1 year then going back to union!

he would get a ton of stick from league and union and it would be deserved.

Leeds for a year then back to South Sydney is the viable option if he decides to stay in england for another year.

He'll stay at Bath until May then back to RL.

Sam will have made his own mind up. As he did when deciding to go to RU - was a surprise to all his family.

He's obviously not staying at Bath as he would have come out and said so.

Wish the lawyers would get a move on and document Sam's wishes.

My bet is one year at Rhinos then off to Rabbitohs.

Get a move on and Sam could be on the bench for 3rd Test v NZ!!

It'jj be difficult as under that scenario Leeds would pay a big transfer fee that they would need be be sure Souths will then underwrite.

The fact that he's been back at Bath a couple of days and hasn't said anything publicly himself suggests he's at least strongly considering Souths, but I'm still not convinced he will not see out his contract at Bath. If he does there'll be the usual mealy-mouthed press release stating how happy he is to stay with Bath, never seriously considered RL etc.

As I've mentioned before, Ford helped cause some of Sam's problems by simply seeing him as a great RL player but having no clue as to how he'd be used in RU. These are quotes from when Burgess signed:

"Ford said he had not discussed potential positions with Burgess and had no preconceived ideas.

“First thing is for him to get over here and learn the laws; what he can do and can’t do in the tackle area. When he’s ready he might play a few games in our 2nd team. There’s no hurry, we’ve signed him for three years.

“England seem to want him at 12, and he might end up playing at 12 for us if that where he’s most effective. We’ll just throw him in and see how he goes.”

When you actually read the above its mind-boggling that they spent a small fortune signing Burgess. It's also clear that on the day he signed the potential conflicts with England were there - Ford talking in terms of Burgess learning his trade when England clearly wanted him fast-tracked, and England's coaches seeing him as a centre from day one. None of the RU coaches come out of that sounding particularly bright.

A few harsh words from some hacks and ex players with less talent and Sam jacks it in, I'd say what a fecking drip, get a grip of yourself, knuckle down to play for the team you signed for and honour the contract.
Reneging on his deal would make him look a bit of a soft d twunt, people in the RU world would rightly say, yeah, took the dollar, was hyped up and couldn't hack it, a few critical words and he's running back to the chippy northerners faster than you can say Iestyn Harris.
To my mind that would damage his stock more and him as a person too as he'd be deemed a failure.

It wouldn't damage him in Sydney, which is where he'd end up and where his earnings outside the game could be huge. The story would be all about the return of the king. Nobody would care how he did for England.

Its also a tad hypocritical to take that attitude when Burgess has already walked away from a contract early, albeit at significant cost to Bath.

In the Guardian Bath's owner reckons he'll stay to the next WC, and that nobody has even contacted Bath about Burgess. He also says that Bath always saw Burgess as a forward - methinks an attempt to rewrite history there as Ford's comments (quoted when Sam signed) suggest they hadn't made up their mind where he'd play.

Mind you, Ford's quotes also show that whilst England may not have funded Sam's move to Bath, they wanted him fast-tracked if at all possible for the WC.

I continue to think he'll stay in RU.

He is alleged to have told the England RL dressing room he is not going back to RU. Suspect therefore he's suffering depression or more likely Bath are playing hard ball over the contract and won't release him or at least not easily. There are other factors - he has an Aussie girlfriend and family in Sydney. That must be another factor I would guess. If he did leave Bath they could easily agree a press release that he loved it but his girlfriend was home sick, etc. RU won't want to let him go without a fight as he's been a major political football in terms of getting RL supporters watching their WC and talking about it and shoeing they can take the best players from the NRL.

That's a bit of a leap. It reminds me of Time Team, they find a brooch and a rectangular building and declare it a Roman temple, later backtracking and deciding it was a farm building.

Nothing is clear in the Burgess situation. I think personally this whole 'will he won't he' stuff is just PR from Burgess's camp. They are trying to play the PR card and goad a RL side into making a stellar bid. No one has done that so far, so I guess he'll probably stay in Union.

I'd also be surprised if his contract at Bath didn't have some sort of loyalty bonus in it, which he'd be waving goodbye to if he actually asked for a move.

Much easier to wait until he has a definite destination lined up, then try to get the buyer to reach an agreement with Bath without him having to request a transfer.

To be fair, I hardly think that was a big factor. The number of RL fans who watched games they otherwise wouldn't have done would be a drop in the ocean in their global audience.


Apparently the talk in Oz is, he's wanting $1.5m pa. How you fit that under a salary cap, God knows.

Have to say, I'm starting to get a bit fed up with the whole soap opera.