He was a guest of the Rugby Football League for the game on Sunday at Hull’s KC Stadium, just as Burgess was last weekend for England’s Test match against France.
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The NRL has ruled out using a marquee player allowance established by outgoing CEO Dave Smith to help lure back Sam Burgess as his brother Tom confirmed his treatment in rugby union after England’s World Cup failure was “pushing him away” from the 15-man code.
Burgess, 26, came under fire for his performances with England after being fast-tracked into their World Cup squad so soon after switching codes and then being part of a squad that failed to even escape the pool stages of their home tournament.
Speculation is rife that Sam Burgess, the world-class forward who left South Sydney for Bath RU 12 months ago, could be heading back to league, possibly in the next 48 hours. He’s not made any decisions yet.
Shane Richardson, the ex-Rabbitohs chief executive and present head of strategy at the NRL, flew in to watch England’s series against New Zealand.
The game’s governing body believes that even if he returned to play his rugby in Australia with his former club Souths, Burgess would exponentially boost the profile of the sport for them at worldwide level, with England hosting a Four Nations next year and then travelling to Australia and New Zealand for the World Cup in 2017. “I think he’s here for about a week and he’s going to the London game too”.
He’s a loved man at South Sydney.
A stark comparison between the nearly hysterical criticism heaped on Burgess for his inability to make a bigger impact in rugby union and the idolatry he still enjoys in Sydney, where he defied a shattered cheekbone to lead them to a first premiership for 43 years, makes his return to the Rabbitohs inevitable.
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In addition to those family ties, Burgess is known to have plans to marry his Australian girlfriend Phoebe Hook in Sydney in December which all points to a confirmed return within days.
