Maybe if our parents had have thought Once were Warriors was a documentary on how to raise children we'd be jealous of important things,.

Some of the comments I've read on various social media pages are being slightly harsh on poor Sammy I suppose.

He gave NRL a go...and it didnt work out for him. He lost the support of many footy fans with his gouging, testicle grabbing and high shots...but he will earn more money in union if nothing else.

I'm surprised he decided to leave though. I cant see him making the England national team and if he does...so what? They arent going to be winning the world cup again any time soon.

I guess he might as well be part of a team that finishes 4th behind the All Blacks, Wallabies and Springboks as in a league side that will always finish below the Kiwis and the Kangaroos though.

It would seem that Souths are less than happy with Sam - he was clearly negotiating with the RU whilst under contract assuming he'd get a release from that contract (his agent in Oz at one stage admitted he had no idea what was going on). I wouldn't be surprised if Russell Crowe isn't his best mate anymore either - he invested a lot of time and effort into getting the lot of them at Souths and bigging up the family image.

Basically the whole "clan Burgess" thing (that he quite happily played up to) was a crock. Unless Souths win the comp this year, he can't claim to have "achieved everything" in RL. None of his brothers could realistically switch to RU, so if there's a backlash from this - and I think the RL community even here in OZ seems to have had enough of code-jumpers - he's left them with few options.

Sadly if/when Sam does return to the NRL it will be complete with SBW nonsense hype attached - unless the RL-supporting public makes clear that they're not going to go along with it. I for one don't care if he ever comes back.

As for Farrell and Ford, they're a disgrace. How hard would it be for them NOT to get involved in trying to poach RL players? As it is they've both done nothing for RL except poach talent since they left the game.

I agree with you apart from the last paragraph. Why would Farrell be expected to do anything for RL anymore? He represents the 15 man game now.


However in a way he HAS done Souths a favour and his own code a disservice if he genuinely has been involved in the Burgii move. Souths have got $$$$$$ for a player who was allegedly a distraction to the side and never really reached the heights that he was billed to reach on the field and union has 'gained' a player who has apparently never played the game before.

If Burgii #1 is really going to be fast tracked into the England RU side you would have to think that aint going to go down well with all the RU players who play the game week in week out. That's like having a load of fully qualified truck drivers looking on as a plum job is given to someone who has only ever ridden a moped before.

..the difference between the 2 games and the positions being mentioned is more like a skateboard and a space shuttle.

Bye bye Sammy

Farrell and Ford have got a job to do, they can recruit who they like. It's up to us to decide if we want to do something to enourage players to stay ( or come back to SL after NRL) or to decide it's something we'll live with as a price we're willing to pay to avoid wage inflation, etc. But we can't operate by expecting individual ex-players to 'be nice'. If I was Burgess, Farrell or Ford copping any flak over this, I'd turn round and say 'none of us three told you to have that cap. Why should he/I play a much harder game for a ton less money just to keep you happy?'

Just disappointed I suppose

But for loads more money and the opportunity to play in front of huge crowds in the WC, the media profile etc etc. I can understand why

But still disappointed

I'm with you bud.

I can understand why he's gone, just wish he hadn't.

2288 posts a union troll spending his hole life in front of his computer trying to promote his memeplexes on the unconverted, sad but true. My guess is your post count on these forums is probably triple that.

I'm far more worried for Sam than for RL, the world at his feet in league could become a legend and will probably end up as yet another failed league convert scapegoat when England lose the next RWC.

I still don't understand the 'he will play Centre in Union' idea. Maybe I just don't know enough about union

Imo the main two reasons he's going are money and longevity.

Good luck to the guy. I'm sure it won't be long before the rest of the Burgii clan follow suit.

I doubt it mate.

What a weird move! I don't see a position for him in Union and I always thought he loved the Sydney lifestyle that much he'd be there forever (wasn't he trying to get residancy). His whole family have moved to the other side of the world with him as well.

It's a hammer blow make no mistake. I suppose the more I sit and think about it I realise he's hardly turned out for the national side in the last few seasons (bar the World Cup) so he's not been as big an asset to us as maybe I'd first think. The issue is that when he does play he's exceptional!

He's made to play league but will now waste away in Union. He'll be richer and more famous like Joel Tomkins, Kyle Eastmond, Chris Ashton etc but I doubt he'll enjoy the game as much as league or that the Union fans will enjoy his skills as much as we do.

I would have thought that Andy Farrell and Mike Ford would know more about transitioning to RU from RL than myself, but I don't see this as a good move for Sam or for England RU.

The only real RL to RU success story is Jason Robinson. And that was due to his quick feet which allowed him to take advantage of even slower footed defenders to race into gaps and create havoc. (This is why I expected Kyle Eastmond to be a RU success but improved defensive athleticsm appears to have diminished his impact.)

I do not see Burgess's skill set succeeding at the top level in RU. Yes, he may develop into a marginal England starter, but he will not be the once in a generation player he was in RL. His offloading is ill suited to union, his charging runs will be hurt by the necessity to position yourself to maintain the ball and his bone crunching defence will again be impacted by the need to try to win the breakdown.

Centre is the only position Burgess can play in RU. He will not learn scrummaging quickly enough to make an impact there. However, with Manu Tuilagi firmly ensconced in one centre position, Burgess's inclusion will only ensure that England have a complete lack of guile in the centres, and they will struggle as a result of that.

I hope I am wrong, however. I would love to see Burgess play a starring role in winning the World Cup in 2015.

Good point in him not been playing much for England RL over the last couple of years, however after a rise in performances from England in the WC and particularly SB been awesome England were looking to build a team around Burgess, sadly thats now gone. Who is the future England Captain? How long will it be until Tomkins does the same? Its an awful day for Rugby League. I dont think the response on here warrants anywhere near how bad this is.

3 steps forward from the WC, 6 steps backwards. I think Marwan Koucash is a bit of a clueless idiot with his views to the salary cap, however I wish he could open his cheque book and get SB into SL.

Sam who?

Burgess. Are you new to RL?

Who? I know there a three brothers that play for Sydney, Tom, George and Luke...Sam? Never heard of him.

All this wailing is ridiculous. Superleague has taken a decision to cut off access to the world's best players by sticking with a very low cap. Some people think this is good for the game, some don't, but it's what's been decided. If you seriously think world-class players in their prime are going to come from the NRL or RU to Superleague, you're delusional. We made the decision to block money out of the game in order to allow the likes of Wakefield to 'catch up'. It was a never going to be without consequences, so all we can do is live with those consequences. Blaming players, former players, whatever, is a load of BS. We set it up this way, for better or worse. Can't have it both ways. Nothing will change in respect of attracting world-class players with the current system in place, so get used to it. SL is in, at best, the 'second tier' of world rugby, by choice.

Recent converts aren't exactly setting the world alight.

Chris Ashton had a few good years, however he now seems to have fallen out of favour at international level.

Kyle Eastmond has played a couple of meaningless internationals and does get England Saxons selections, I doubt they'll trust him in a serious international.

Joel Tomkins was possibly going to be outside centre for England, however he got injured towards the end of 2013.

To be fair, there were posts from Aussie based species that said, aside from his playing ability, Burgess was starting to get a very bad rep as a "grub", as they like to put it.

Its a funny one, I haven't particularly read the figures quoted, but given the bumper new NRL deal, it seems like money won't be the only reason he's gone.
Maybe its to emulate SBW's achievements of being a dual international, maybe he longs for the stardom in his homeland that England RU has given him, maybe he sees more opportunities for after his playing career if he's played union, maybe he thinks his career will last longer playing a lower impact sport (or that he'll be in better nick when he finishes), maybe he's shagged Tom's girlfriend and none of the other Burgesses are talking to him?