The news that Sam Burgess has told Rabbitohs management that he will be heading to England to play Rugby Union next season has taken off across all the media websites and social media. The general feeling amongst Souths fans is that he has stabbed the club in the back, and our very own League Freak agrees with that sentiment.
if the reports are true, I wouldn’t blame a fan of the club for lashing out at Burgess who is leaving a club he has signed a long term deal with, only to chase the cash in a world cup year. Signed as a youngster, the Bunnies took a big gamble on Burgess, who has repaid their willingness tenfold with great performances and his becoming almost the face of Channel 9’s league coverage.
With the news that Burgess is heading Union, the Rugby World Cup is set to be headlined by 3 former league players in Sam Burgess, Israel Folau and Benji Marshall.
Folau has been in Rugby all of 15 minutes yet is by far the biggest star in the game. If Burgess is to head to the rival, he will be the biggest name in English Rugby.
Not for a second would anyone consider Benji Marshall the biggest name in NZ Rugby, but you can bet tournament organisers will have his face plastered all over advertising in Australia and England come 2015.
For English Rugby, who will of course host the 2015 World Cup, Burgess will be a wise investment. He’s everywhere in not only the sports pages but also the social pages and has a huge profile in Australia as well as his home land.
For the Bunnies it may be a case of letting one Burgess go to keep the other 3. There’s no way in this salary cap era that a club can compete against the cashed up Rugby clubs across the world to keep a player of Sam’s quality after signing Greg Inglis to a million a year deal.
There are 2 huge winners out of this reported deal, English Rugby and Sam Burgess. There is also one big loser … Souths Fans … but since when do professional sports stars ever think about the fans who made them who they are today when they make decisions?
I guess Burgess is sick of not being able to win a world cup in League, sitting a distant third to the Roos and the Kiwis … looks like he’s heading to Union to not win a world cup, and instead be a distant third to the All Blacks and Springboks.