English rugby union disappointment Sam Burgess could be on the verge of a sensational return to rugby league with the South Sydney Rabbitohs.
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Crucially, any transfer fee payable to Bath would not count on Souths’ salary cap, according to reports in Australia, which was one obstacle feared to be blocking a return.
McNamara, who gave Burgess his debut in Super League during their time together at Bradford, remains convinced the player will return to rugby league but stopped short of putting a time frame on it.
Last week the 26-year-old’s brothers Tom and George, committed to the Rabbitohs for another three seasons, propelling suggestions the 2013 Clive Churchill Medallist could return to the club.
Former Sea Eagles coach Geoff Toovey weighed in on the developments saying he doesn’t think the NRL should help bring him back because it sets a risky precedent for other star code-hoppers in the future.
His issues were made worse by England head coach Stuart Lancaster, who named Burgess as centre for the national team, despite playing as a back-rower for his club, Bath.
However, Burgess’ future was thrust into the spotlight when he attended last weekend’s league Test between England and France as a special guest of the RFL at the same time Bath were playing Wasps in Coventry.
The decision to include Burgess in England’s Rugby World Cup squad was questioned in the wake of the country’s failure to advance from the group stage of the tournament.
Sam Burgess is a step closer to a return to the Rabbitohs pic. His final match for the club came in the 2014 NRL Grand Final, during which he suffered a broken cheek bone during the first play. He was photographed sitting alongside England coach Steve McNamara during the record 84-4 win at Leigh Sports Village.
“If he came back to rugby league, absolutely”, he said.
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There has been an increasing amount of noise in Australia about an imminent return to the South Sydney Rabbitohs, where Burgess played with great success between 2010 and last autumn, when he joined Bath on a deal thought to be in the region of £500,000 a season – unusually high for any union player anywhere in the world and positively stratospheric for a newcomer with no obvious position and only a rudimentary grasp of the laws.
