Quote ="gutterfax" Quote ="JB Down Under"He'll be doing half the work for more money, be daft not to. On the downside he is leaving behind life in one of the best cities in the world, big crowds, decent stadiums, celebrity status and partying with Hollywood stars. Not to mention the athletic challenge of playing in the worlds top rugby ">competition.'" Bless.......he'll be an hour from London which craps all over Sydney, if he plays for England he'll be watched by more people in the 5 games in spring than see him all year in the NRL to a TV audience of 40,000,000 in England alone and he will become an RFU marketing asset so will be out and about with the glitterati.........oh, he'll also see what a genuine World Cup looks like where the Italians actually come from Italy, the Irish from Ireland etc..........'" ha ha Sorry but do seriously believe that 40 million people in England alone watch international RU?? ha ha your funny

Quote ="gutterfax" Quote ="JB Down Under"He'll be doing half the work for more money, be daft not to. On the downside he is leaving behind life in one of the best cities in the world, big crowds, decent stadiums, celebrity status and partying with Hollywood stars. Not to mention the athletic challenge of playing in the worlds top rugby ">competition.'" Bless.......he'll be an hour from London which craps all over Sydney, if he plays for England he'll be watched by more people in the 5 games in spring than see him all year in the NRL to a TV audience of 40,000,000 in England alone and he will become an RFU marketing asset so will be out and about with the glitterati.........oh, he'll also see what a genuine World Cup looks like where the Italians actually come from Italy, the Irish from Ireland etc..........'" ha ha Sorry but do seriously believe that 40 million people in England alone watch international RU?? ha ha your funny

Quote ="Buggo"If he wants to go let him. He is massively ego driven, he is one player that I would lock out of returning to the game to place a marker to others that want the benefits of Rugby League then jump Ship. He has had every opportunity in our game and every door has been opened to him and he still feels the need to abandon the game that built him. If we accept the code jumpers back so easily it sends the wrong message, let them go and stay ">there.'" Really, you have this much of a problem with a guy wanting to make the most of his very short playing career, where it can be over at any point due to injury. Sure I'd prefer Sam in RL, which RL fan wouldn't but I'm not going to throw the toys out of the pram because of his choice to move codes. Lets be honesst our sport isn't big enough to stop players coming back if they want. Whether he's moving because he wants to play for England RU, which is a big draw due to their international scene or simply earning extra money, it's so easy to rip into a guy when your not in his shoes. Lets face it, if you were ever in the position where someone's chucking big money at you and offering you a new experience, who's to say what you'd do. Imo Sam doesn't owe anything to anyone, the dude's put his body on the line every minute he's been on a field. He's got to where he is because of the player he is not because of any doors that have been opened for him.

Quote ="Buggo"If he wants to go let him. He is massively ego driven, he is one player that I would lock out of returning to the game to place a marker to others that want the benefits of Rugby League then jump Ship. He has had every opportunity in our game and every door has been opened to him and he still feels the need to abandon the game that built him. If we accept the code jumpers back so easily it sends the wrong message, let them go and stay ">there.'" Really, you have this much of a problem with a guy wanting to make the most of his very short playing career, where it can be over at any point due to injury. Sure I'd prefer Sam in RL, which RL fan wouldn't but I'm not going to throw the toys out of the pram because of his choice to move codes. Lets be honesst our sport isn't big enough to stop players coming back if they want. Whether he's moving because he wants to play for England RU, which is a big draw due to their international scene or simply earning extra money, it's so easy to rip into a guy when your not in his shoes. Lets face it, if you were ever in the position where someone's chucking big money at you and offering you a new experience, who's to say what you'd do. Imo Sam doesn't owe anything to anyone, the dude's put his body on the line every minute he's been on a field. He's got to where he is because of the player he is not because of any doors that have been opened for him.

lovesauce - I'm pretty certain the views of RL fans make absolutely no difference to fans of other sports when it comes to RL. They look down on RL for a lot of reasons, many to do with socio-economic stereotypes, both in Australia and England.



Talking of stereotypes, what's with the Australia one? You've clearly never even been here.

Quote ="Shifty Cat"Really, you have this much of a problem with a guy wanting to make the most of his very short playing career, where it can be over at any point due to injury. Sure I'd prefer Sam in RL, which RL fan wouldn't but I'm not going to throw the toys out of the pram because of his choice to move codes. Lets be honesst our sport isn't big enough to stop players coming back if they want. Whether he's moving because he wants to play for England RU, which is a big draw due to their international scene or simply earning extra money, it's so easy to rip into a guy when your not in his shoes. Lets face it, if you were ever in the position where someone's chucking big money at you and offering you a new experience, who's to say what you'd do. Imo Sam doesn't owe anything to anyone, the dude's put his body on the line every minute he's been on a field. He's got to where he is because of the player he is not because of any doors that have been opened for ">him.'" That is your opinion and you are entitled to it. I have seen plenty of players that have been supported by the local community as youngsters and encouraged through the ranks to be Coached and trained by the best people involved in the game. Sure a player like Burgess has talent but the game has helped build that talent and invested in him, Russell Crowe took a big chance and "opened a door for him" when he signed a player on a massive contract that was not the finished product and had a history of injuries. I actually follow both codes to some extent, union a lot less but I do not have any gripe with the game. I do think its not a good plan to have the best League players abandon the game that built them to try their hand in another game and if it fails and they don't cut it they are welcomed back with open arms and big contracts. Should Rugby League be a safety net and are we sending the right message by taking failures back to our game. I know plenty of businesses that train and educate their staff and if they are poached by a competing company they never welcome them back.

Quote ="Shifty Cat"Really, you have this much of a problem with a guy wanting to make the most of his very short playing career, where it can be over at any point due to injury. Sure I'd prefer Sam in RL, which RL fan wouldn't but I'm not going to throw the toys out of the pram because of his choice to move codes. Lets be honesst our sport isn't big enough to stop players coming back if they want. Whether he's moving because he wants to play for England RU, which is a big draw due to their international scene or simply earning extra money, it's so easy to rip into a guy when your not in his shoes. Lets face it, if you were ever in the position where someone's chucking big money at you and offering you a new experience, who's to say what you'd do. Imo Sam doesn't owe anything to anyone, the dude's put his body on the line every minute he's been on a field. He's got to where he is because of the player he is not because of any doors that have been opened for ">him.'" That is your opinion and you are entitled to it. I have seen plenty of players that have been supported by the local community as youngsters and encouraged through the ranks to be Coached and trained by the best people involved in the game. Sure a player like Burgess has talent but the game has helped build that talent and invested in him, Russell Crowe took a big chance and "opened a door for him" when he signed a player on a massive contract that was not the finished product and had a history of injuries. I actually follow both codes to some extent, union a lot less but I do not have any gripe with the game. I do think its not a good plan to have the best League players abandon the game that built them to try their hand in another game and if it fails and they don't cut it they are welcomed back with open arms and big contracts. Should Rugby League be a safety net and are we sending the right message by taking failures back to our game. I know plenty of businesses that train and educate their staff and if they are poached by a competing company they never welcome them back.

"Like" had nothing to do with it. I just believe NZ Warriors could have spent the cash he's on elsewhere.......he's a luxury we didn't need.

Tom Burgess was outstanding for South Sydney this morning! With every game he looks to be catching up with George in terms of his footwork, ball retention and yardage.



Sam was also outstanding again, what a loss he is to the game. I'd love it if he turned around and said he'd changed his mind!