Slammin' Sam

As Sam Burgess arrived at his new home of Bath RU last week, below is an article I wrote for www.the18thman.com back in February when it was officially announced that Sam would be leaving Rugby League.
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Sam in action for South Sydney

So, what everyone has known for the last few weeks is not out on the open and official – Slammin’ Sam, one of the few truly great English Rugby League players of this generation is going all SBW on us and leaving the ‘greatest game’ to go and try his hand at ‘kick and clap’ and attempt to become a dual code rugby international.

Do I think he will succeed?? Too right, he will be as big a start as SBW was in Union – he has the size, speed, skill and mentality to be an outstanding outside back in Union.

Around the fringes of the current England RU squad are Joel Tomkins and Kyle Eastmond – 2 very talented ex Rugby League players – neither of them have anywhere near the talent that Sam has – he will smash Rugby Union and become a British sporting superstar and will undoubtedly add greatly to the chances of England wining the Rugby Union World Cup in 2015.

I am not bitter about Sam leaving Rugby League – I am gutted and devastated that League has lost this icon of our sport when he has so much left to give and we have so few of them and Union has so many.

My 10 year old son is also gutted – he had really taken Sam to his heart after the World Cup and doesn’t understand why Sam wants to go and play ‘that’ game – ‘’it’s boring and there’s too much kicking’’ he says.

Anyone who has seen the outstanding ‘Slammin’ Sam’ documentary will struggle to understand why he wants to leave a South Sydney Rabbitohs club that are now just as big a part of his life as his immediate family – his 3 brothers Luke, Tom and George all play for the club and their mother moved out to Sydney to be with them – they have a great lifestyle, enjoy the nightlife and the surf, are paid better than they ever would be in Super League and Tom and George have improved so much in such a short space of time that they were also part of England’s World Cup squad last autumn along with Sam.

The Burgess Brothers

 

Add in the fact that the Rabbitohs co-owner, Hollywood film start Russell Crowe, has done so much for the Burgess family since signing Sam from Bradford Bulls in 2010 – from signing tom and George when they were untested and unheard of in England let alone Australia, then signing Luke whom had shown himself to be no more than a run of the mill Super League forward plus making their late father a life time member of the Rabbitohs with his own seat on match day next to Crowe and it just adds to the ‘surprise’ element of Sam’s decision.

Now, two things that I like my favourite Rugby League players to have are loyalty and integrity – and I think Sam has both of them in abundance – you get that much just from watching the documentary and seeing how Sam handle’s himself in interviews – he is a role model and a man that I am happy to point out to my Rugby League playing son and say ‘’this is how you need to be if you want to succeed.’’

So, having both of the aforementioned traits and having a relationship with Crowe akin to that of an older brother or an uncle even, you can guarantee that one of, if not the, first port of call for Sam when he realised he was interested in going to play Rugby union was Crowe.

Sam has 3 years remaining on his contract and there is so much respect between the two that I am sure Crowe would have listened to what Sam had to say and given him his blessing on the move based on the benefits for Sam personally along with a hefty piece of financial compensation from whichever club was willing to pay. 

That club, as was rumoured and is now confirmed, is Bath Rugby – coached by former Rugby League international Mike Ford and they have paid AUS$1,000,000 for the privilege of having this world class athlete in their ranks in transfer fees alone.

But not only will Sam be playing a new style of rugby that will see him fast tracked into the England Rugby union squad (probably as early as the 2015 Six Nations in 12 months time) – but he will also be moving from the bright lights and cosmopolitan atmosphere of Sydney to the quiet and beautiful old Roman town of Bath.

So, why is Sam Burgess moving to Rugby union??

The easiest and simplest answer would be MONEY.

Sam play’s rugby league at a breakneck pace both in defence and attack and has already suffered numerous injury’s in his career so far.

Who knows – the next one could end his career.

Therefore, as with all professional sportsmen and women – their earning potential has to be maximised both on and off the field – and there is no doubt that Sam’s profile has never been higher and that he is at the peak of his playing career so far.

If reports are true, Sam may well be tripling the salary he is earning at the Rabbitohs – add in the endorsements that a world class England Rugby Union international can earn then there is no doubt that the financial side will have played an important part in his decision making progress.

But I am certain that money was not, ultimately, the deciding factor.

What I am certain it is NOT is playing rugby in an English winter on muddy pitches in front of crowds smaller than he will be used to in Australia and having the ball in his hands far less and not making as many bone crunching tackles as he does in League.

I watched Exeter v. Bath at the weekend and it was a throwback to watching Rugby League on Grandstand on a winter’s afternoon in the 80’s and 90’s before we changed to summer.

It was cold, it was wet and the pitch was very muddy but to be fair to both sides the forwards did not stick the ball up their jumpers and the back line moves were exactly the same as you will see the majority of Super League team’s use.

The main reason for Sam’s move is the lure of international rugby union and, specifically, the 2015 Rugby World Cup to be held in the UK.

And the English Rugby Union know it – England Head Coach Stuart Lancaster hails from Rugby League heartlands and has a high regard for the game and it’s players and one of his assistant coaches is, of course, Wigan legend Andy Farrell. It appears the Rugby Union sanctioned the move after Farrell, apparently, sounded Sam out during the Rugby League World Cup last Autumn.

Having sampled the great atmosphere at the Rugby League World Cup and all of the positive feel that came from it, despite England’s heart breaking last second semi-final defeat to New Zealand, Sam will know that the Rugby Union World Cup will be even bigger.

Add to that the high profile Six Nations tournament each year plus a , potential, Lions tour in 2017 and you have more of an understanding of why Sam is switching codes and why he is doing it at the height of his powers.

I am not one of these people who thinks our sport should be flattered because the English Rugby Union have targeted our main man – I wish they would concentrate on cultivating outside backs with the talent that Sam has rather than nick ours.

However, I do recognise that Sam is a world class athlete and, like all world class athletes, he wants to be successful and, probably, remembered as one of the truly great dual code internationals of all time.

To become that man then he has to make the switch and give himself the time to be bedded into the England Rugby Union squad and ready for the 2015 World Cup.

When I look at it this way I understand the reasons – I am sure Stuart Lancaster is rubbing his hands together already.

At the end of his 3 years, hopefully, Sam will return to the ‘greatest game’ having achieved everything he set out to do in Rugby Union and will come back to his Rugby League family an even better player – if that’s possible – I am sure Russell Crowe has it in the contract that the Rabbitohs will have first dibs in 2017.

Good luck Sam – I’ll be watching and supporting you.

Sam in his new kit at his new home.