I reckon the only way he's staying at Bath next year is if a financial deal can't be agreed upon with Souths and Bath.

That's why he'll be keeping quiet and why Ford is still promoting him as someone who wants to give RU a crack still. Because if the deal falls through and he has to go back to RU with his tail between his legs he's going to take another battering from the media for wanting to leave.

He keeps quiet and if the deal fall through he can trot out the same lines as Ford has given saying he never had any intention of going anywhere.

There has been plenty of time for a deal to have be agreed and the longer this has gone on the more it would indicate no satisfactory deal being agreed or none that Sam wanted.

In the end it will be Sam who will decide his own future. He will not be going back to RU because he has never left it, being still under contract for 2 more years. So the only time he is likely to have his tail between his legs is if he returned to League without having mastered the Union code.

What is quite good about all the current publicity regarding SB's possible return to the NRL is that in the week before the Union World Cup Final it is Rugby League that is stealing the headlines on an hourly basis. That the NRL and SL clubs and his own Union club are in a bidding race for his rugby skills is a great news for Sam and goes some way to countering the negative rubbish that the Union hacks and former players were scribbling just a few weeks ago.

Burgess should hold a press conference to announce his decision just a couple of hours before the WC final kicks off which will keep his name in the headlines and claim back a bit of ironic justice

From what I've seen he just won't make it in Union in any position. He showed no ruck skills other than the most basic one of presenting the ball when tackled, he is too upright to play a ground game. He is also not even close to being quick enough to play centre. Brad Barritt managed to make him look good but he is so far away from an international centre it's embarrassing,

He'll stay at Bath and put the money in the bank then go back to Australia for as big a contract as he can get. I don't blame the guy, He did something special leading Souths to a Premiership and captained England with distinction in the league WC. He has given Union a go and now he should just do what he wants. Andy Farrell on the other hand should be kicked as far as possible away from the England coaching set up.

Earlier in the week I was quietly confident we would get Sam, that said the longer this goes on I see little to no chance of seeing Sam in blue and Amber of Leeds

Yep.i mean, this all really started by the bookies bringing in the odds a few weeks ago on him joining us.nobody at the club has actually come out and confirmed any offer.We are all just assuming because we think there is a boat load of cash available we can sign him, when its all really just speculation.Obviously the fact Souths are probably up to cap leaves the glimmer of us getting him for a year but the longer things go, the more you have to believe he really wants to go back to Souths now and they are working out ways to get him in.

I know from a squad member who told me we were definitely interested in a serious way, however there appears to be little or no interest in joining Leeds, and if that's the case not too disappointed. He is a great player with incredible future however if his hearts not in it we are probably better off without

If he's not interested then sod him. We shouldn't be chasing someone who's indifferent. We shouldn't have to persude someone to join.

He can either rot away in RU or negotiate a return with Uncle Russell.

Not been plenty of time at all in the circumstances. Only a few weeks ago Burgess will have been hoping to be with England about to play a World Cup final this weekend. Played his last Bath game less than two weeks ago and Bath sound reluctant to sell so will play hard ball.

Souths wouldn't have expected a few weeks back to have the opportunity to sign Burgess back and they'll have needed to do some moving and shaking regarding their Salary Cap once it became a possibility. Transfers can go on for a prolonged period if the selling club are reluctant to sell.

The longer Burgess keeps silent the more it looks like he wants out of RU (he could've ended the speculation last week with a quick simple "I'm staying" if RU is truely what we wants). If you accept his attending the England RL game as innocent as his brother was playing, you can't honestly think he didn't know what he was doing sitting next to McNamara. Ford as Bath coach will have better things to do than spend his time fielding questions about Burgess, so Sam could've done his coach and his club a massive favour by speaking up /not sitting next to McNamara if he really is planning on sticking with Bath.

Also, if as Ford claims, Burgess is hoping to be included in the 6 Nations then he can't afford to be missing games between now and that event kicking off in Febuary in his apparent new position in the forwards.

Have leeds come out and said anything about this? I haven't seen anything, though to be fair, I haven't really looked anywhere other than these here boards.

Not a single thing. Which almost certainly means we've been in for him.

I agree with this. We all know what Hetherington is capable of. Falloon was pretty well documented, Garbutt was a surprise, and we all remember GH saying that we wouldn't be signing Briscoe.

However, one thing is for sure. If a player is not interested, GH moves on quickly. I'm thinking Jones-Bishop, Calderwood, Mathers, Webb, Lee Smith to name a few. Then the Westerman and Clark deals were dealt with quickly. I reckon we're in for Burgess in a big way.

What a load of rubbish. Not like Its a big life changing decision is it! What do you expect, that he would declare his commitment and love for Leeds over night. The sh 1te that's posted on this board!

We can speculate away all day but nobody knows the full story yet. Sam was obviously troubled by the unfair media he got after England went out on the WC so early. This is understandable considering he was one of the few England players to play well with the majority of the so called experienced players being error prone and simply not good enough.

The rumors of a return to League started straight after the hacks had blamed him for the early exit, climate change and the financial crisis. This unfair attack by the anti league brigade obviously unsettled SB and the rumors started about a return to the NRL several weeks ago so Ford sent him off for a break.

If Burgess had already decided to return to South's then I would have thought he would not delay in announcing it. The way has been cleared by the NRL so it only remains for Sam to decide. Bath will not want to keep a player who wants out. However if he wants to stay he does not need to say anything as he owes the media nothing. All he needs to do is just return for training next Monday.

As far as sitting next to McNamara in a near empty stadium well this could well have been a deciding factor in staying put.

I wish the lad well whatever he decides. He has made a good fist of learning to play Union both as a back and a forward in such a short time. He has become a dual code international and played well in World Cups in both League and Union and has let nobody down. So he has earned the right to decide his own future in his own good time.