FORMER Super League and NRL prop George Burgess is set to return to rugby league with a surprise club.
Burgess, 32, has been given the green light by the South Sydney Junior Rugby League board to play the rest of this season with Malabar-based South Eastern Seagulls A-grade side.
The 32-year-old’s last foray into rugby league came with the Cairns Brothers in 2023 after he previously retired from the NRL back in 2022.
Burgess played 153 NRL games, 149 with South Sydney Rabbitohs, the other four at St George Illawarra as well as making eight appearances for the Wigan Warriors in Super League in 2020 and 2021.
Most recently, Burgess was found not guilty on one charge of sexually touching the woman without consent over an incident in March 2022.
The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, claimed the rugby league player touched her buttocks and made suggestive comments about her “juicy arse”.
The former England international admitted to going to the home of the woman, whom he had known for over ten years, after agreeing to provide a signed jersey for a charity event.
The court was told the woman had messaged George Burgess and his brothers about the charity event, with the former responding on Snapchat though those messages automatically deleted after 24 hours.
Burgess, in the messages, apologised for the alleged incident and according to police told the woman he was “truly sorry for hurting her feelings”.
Later, the former England international said he never touched the woman’s backside, but that he did place his hand on her lower back while she made tea in the kitchen.
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