I do not believe the fans blame Burgess for England's woes at all as the criticism came from a narrow section of former players and hacks who were against his selection in the first place. Some of the outrageous comments from these same hacks and chums of other players got well and truly roasted on social media. He is well liked by the Bath fans and you could sense the positive reaction from the crowd every time he got the ball.

He has the skill set to make it as a back row forward and the financial rewards are huge in European Union. I just get the feeling he is not a quitter and will have a determination to prove certain people wrong but he will know that he will only get selected for England on form next time.

Ford has said that because Burgess was away so long with the England camp as a centre he has not had the off season time to learn and practice the line out jumping/lifting skills. So I guess that is what he is doing now.

Best way to get Burgess learning those skills is to get him out on loan somewhere in the second tier of the English game, away from the spotlight.

If Bath could get him a few games at somewhere like Bristol or Cornish Pirates, or even a step down into the third tier with Plymouth Albion, he'll be able to learn the position without Bath suffering if he makes any mistakes while doing so.

Maybe Yorkshire Carnegie should stick in a cheeky loan bid for a couple of months?

Ha, that would be interesting

The NRL cap is 6.8 million AUD for 2016 and will increase to 7 million AUD in 2017. This is about £3.25 million in real money.

The Premiership basic cap in 2016/7 is £6.5 million plus 2 marquee players nominated to be excluded from the cap plus other credits for academy players etc. This is double the NRL cap + the marquee payments so even if you allow for Union having bigger squads than League it still allows for significantly higher earnings before the very lucrative International fees which are reported to have increased to £15,000 per Test match. In addition there are win bonuses eg had England won the World Cup the 31 man squad would have shared a £5 million bonus (£161k each)

While in France the cap is £8.6 million which excludes players that earn £43,000 or less! and Dan Carter is on a 3 year contract at £1.3 million for each season. Therefore there is are very big financial incentives offered by Union plus big off field sponsorship deals and star status.

If the recent past is anything to go by the longer he stays in union the less likely it is that he will be able to cut it in top level RL - conditioning in RU appears very different to that in RL and has a serious adverse impact on the ability of players returning to RL to be able to hit the standard they were at prior to leaving

"He's not a quitter".....he quit on Souths.

Utter nonsense, yes he left Souths before his contract was up but that is not what most people would mean by quitting.
His last game for Souths - when he knew he was leaving for RU - he played for nearly the entire game with a broken cheek bone winning them the Grand Final with a MOM performance.
Hardly quitting.

You miss the point.

The context of quitting because you are not considered good enough and are therefore running away with your tail between your legs is quite a different proposition to moving from one sport to another when at the height of your form and reputation and having proven to everyone you are the top man in that sport. The latter is to be admired for seeking a new challenge and actually achieving International selection in so short a time. The former is defeat and a stain on your reputation.

Can you see the difference?

No because you're basing it on him achieving success in his last RL game. He signed his Bath contract nearly 12 months before. Had Souths failed to win the GF last year people would say different of him.

I am not basing anything on his achieving success in his last RL game at all. He had played for his country for several years and had become a big star

He was named International Rugby League Player of the Year 2014 for his achievements for the whole year ending October 2014 and the first Englishman to win this award.

“Sam was wonderful for England in the World Cup last year and his performances for South Sydney through the NRL season were first-class, all the way to his Clive Churchill Medal effort in the grand final against Canterbury-Bankstown,” the RLIF chairman, Nigel Wood, said. “He is a worthy recipient and deserves to be recognised for his achievements over the past year on the international stage as well as in the NRL competition.”

Burgess held off strong competition from fellow nominees including fellow Englishman James Graham, and Australian stars Johnathan Thurston and Jarryd Hayne" quote from the Guardian.

His move to Bath was announced in Feb 2014 not Oct 2013.

However you still have not addressed the two quite different context of the term "quitting" that I explained. Can you not see the significance of each?

Why are going on about his showings for England RL? Do you think Souths fans gave a damn about them when he announced he was going? When it was announced he was leaving for Bath do you not think they felt he was quitting on the club before they'd achieved success.

he didn't quit he moved on to bigger and better things

He went for a bigger and better bank balance.

You are being a little obtuse. I cannot believe you do not understand that the term 'a quitter' (as in one who gives up easily) is quite different from 'to quit' (as in to leave)

Also when Burgess announced (in Feb 2104) he was going to start with Bath at the end of his 4 year contract (end of season) he was not running away or giving up easily. In fact he explained he was starting a new chapter in his career and wanted the challenge of learning to play the other code and to try and play on the big international stage and no doubt secure his future earnings too.

I made the point that at the time he was a big star and the key player both for his club and country. He went on to lead his club to the championship and earn the international player of the year award which rather proves he is not a quitter in the context I used. I do not believe that the South's fans think he is a quitter either.