Let's be frank, Burgess went to RU for the world cup. Club rugby plays a distant 2nd fiddle to international RU. His England career is in tatters, he might as well come back home

Exactly, if he comes back now he'll get to play in a Four Nations event then a Rugby League World Cup the following year. Granted our World Cup isn't as big.....but at least he's pretty much nailed on to be a part of it, instead of slim hope he'll make it back into the international fold in RU.

He'll finish the season at Bath. After that he may or may not return to Souths but I think that is going to depend very much on what fee Bath want and what changes take place at the England RFU. For example Eddie Jones has been linked with an England coaching position and he has publicly criticised the way Burgess has been handled and attacked those throwing blame at him.

If Burgess wants out then there's no point in Bath keeping him.
So GH has spoken to Sam about coming to us and now he has gone public with our pursuit of him. If Sam wasnt keen on coming to us during the chat then Gary wouldn't have gone to the YEP.
Just come home Sam. Have a year with us then go to Souths then have the chance to LEAD your country to World Cup glory in 2017

i cant see that. Staying until the end of the season at bath takes him up to June, gives him no pre-season and throws him in to the middle of an NRL year at full speed with no time to acclimatise.

If he moves now, he hits next year running. He moves any other year he will either be leaving part way through an RU season or joining part way through an NRL year. Now is really the only clean time for a break. Its probably the only time he can move as well if he wants to be ready for the 2017 RLWC

I would also say that this idea of going to leeds for a year, then souths when they can fit him in hasnt come about from nowhere. Its clearly something that has been discussed at Leeds, at Souths and with Burgess which indicates its a serious enough consideration.

I think he either comes back this year to Leeds, then Souths next year, or i think its the last we see of him in RL as his reason to stay there is the 2019 world cup the end of which will see him knocking on for 31 off the back of a 15 year first grade career and a body which hasnt played RL for 6 years and a game based around physicality.

If he plays out the season at Bath he won't rejoin Souths until 2017. He won't go back mid season. That might be his plan - just to show he can genuinely "make it" in RU.

This just reads as one of GH's kite flying PR releases - zero substance and the same sort of "we're always in the hunt for world class players" mantra he's rolled out in the past.

Imo GH wouldn't be so public about our interest without the clout to back it up or if he'd already been told to go forth and multiply by the Burgess Camp.
I'll also say there's no way imo GH would splash big money to only get SB for 12mths irrespective of his stature etc IF we get him on a permanent deal i think it'll be 2/3yrs minimum.
Amongst all this SB's silence is deafening which indicates to me either hasn't made his mind up yet or he's waiting for the money men to conclude the best deal for all concerned.

Quite why some think Sam should be chatting to the media that previously rubbished his efforts I do not know. I guess he would be breaking some clause in his contract if he announced we wanted to leave while still under contract to Bath who are making clear they do not want to lose him and expect him to honour his contract. Any way he is playing on Saturday which casts doubt on certain comments being banded about.

I personally think that if souths can't fit him in for 2016 he sound stick it out for the RU season. Much as I'd love to see him at Leeds, I'd prefer him to justify his reputation and maybe it as an England back row

Nobody is saying he should speak out if he wants to leave....it's obvious he can't do that, I explained the reason he couldn't to you several days ago.

People are saying he should speak up if he intends to stay....and he should've done by know.

Obviously there have been offers banded about and perhaps some of these were just speculation or not possible or they could still be ongoing, so no need for Sam to speak out just yet. Let the Union embarrassment continue for a while longer I say. I am sure Sam is enjoying seeing his name hitting the headlines daily and seeing the same media that did the hatchet job now have to report how unfair he has been treated. Wonderful

Hetherington interview on Calendar last night said he believes it looks like Burgess will be leaving Bath...

What else would you expect Hetherington to say? This means very little at this point.

I'd actually have expected him to say nothing. The last 24 hours haven't come from GH's usual playbook so I'm not sure really what his comments regarding Burgess mean in terms of our chances of getting him. It's been very un-Hetherington-like.

My guess is that this probably the biggest deal Leeds have tried to pull off in quite a while and also one where we are not in the box seat. As a result Hetherington is hs ing to try a different approach and force the issue a little. Personally I think he is handling it pretty well. As I said previously we can't really lose on this one.