IF ever there was a family that has taken rugby league by storm then it is the Burgesses.
All four brothers – Sam, Tom, George and Luke – made history with the South Sydney Rabbitohs in 2014, winning the NRL Grand Final for the first time since 1971.
All four have had forays in Super League – Luke at Leeds, Tom and Sam at Bradford and George later at Wigan – but George has revealed that his twin, Tom, almost joined the Warriors back in 2012 but decided to make the move to the Rabbitohs instead.
“He’s showed the longevity and his body has helped up pretty well. He’s the most capped forward for South Sydney which is pretty impressive,” George said on James Graham’s The Bye Round podcast.
“I remember the phone call when we were trying to get him over here in 2012. I was in hospital actually.
“He was looking at signing for Wigan at the time. He had (Kris) Radlinski in his ear and he got a way less offer at Souths but I just said ‘you’ve just got to come, take the chance’ and he did.
“He wasn’t playing first grade straight away and he was pretty angry at that because he was lined up for a spot in Wigan’s first team straightaway. I think they won the comp that year as well 2013.
“But we all played together in 2013 and we had such a good year, we were really unlucky not to make the Grand Final and I think the next year was obviously unbelievable.”
Of course, there’s only Tom left playing the game with the 30-year-old still plying his trade in Redfern whilst brother Sam is on the coaching staff.
