SAM BURGESS will be at the Warrington Wolves in 2024 – that much is true.
After a shock departure from the South Sydney Rabbitohs, however, the fallout from that decision by the NRL club is still taking Australian journalists time to digest.
Upon his exit, Burgess stated: “I’ve made the decision to step away from South Sydney, given the circumstances.
“My immediate focus is the upcoming birth of our baby and preparing for my new role at Warrington.”
However, the issue was discussed by Fox League‘s James Hooper who claimed that the fallout within the club went deeper than that.
Hooper stated on NRL360: “Make no mistake, there’s been a major fallout between Sam Burgess and Jason Demetriou. It’s been brewing in the background over the past couple of months.
“What happened today was that all of South Sydney’s club management and also all of the players were called into an emergency meeting first thing this morning at 7am and by 8am, Sammy Burgess was out the door. They hadn’t been able to resolve their differences.
“Russell Crowe got on the phone at one point and ended up hanging up on Sam Burgess. They weren’t able to find middle ground so as a result, Sam departs the club.”
Meanwhile, Daily Telegraph‘s Michael Carayannis believes that Burgess was keen to raise standards at the Rabbitohs.
“Are the standards good enough, and that comes back to what Sam Burgess’ angst has been,” Carayannis said.
“Are there enough players buying into what should be happening at South Sydney and that’s what stems from all the frustrations that Sam has developed over the last couple of months.
“He doesn’t believe the senior players are doing enough to drive the standards to a level that is high enough to win a premiership.”