Quote: BrisbaneRhino "It would seem that Souths are less than happy with Sam - he was clearly negotiating with the RU whilst under contract assuming he'd get a release from that contract (his agent in Oz at one stage admitted he had no idea what was going on). I wouldn't be surprised if Russell Crowe isn't his best mate anymore either - he invested a lot of time and effort into getting the lot of them at Souths and bigging up the family image.
Basically the whole "clan Burgess" thing (that he quite happily played up to) was a crock. Unless Souths win the comp this year, he can't claim to have "achieved everything" in RL. None of his brothers could realistically switch to RU, so if there's a backlash from this - and I think the RL community even here in OZ seems to have had enough of code-jumpers - he's left them with few options.
Sadly if/when Sam does return to the NRL it will be complete with SBW nonsense hype attached - unless the RL-supporting public makes clear that they're not going to go along with it. I for one don't care if he ever comes back.
As for Farrell and Ford, they're a disgrace. How hard would it be for them NOT to get involved in trying to poach RL players? As it is they've both done nothing for RL except poach talent since they left the game.'"
I agree with you apart from the last paragraph. Why would Farrell be expected to do anything for RL anymore? He represents the 15 man game now.
However in a way he HAS done Souths a favour and his own code a disservice if he genuinely has been involved in the Burgii move. Souths have got $$$$$$ for a player who was allegedly a distraction to the side and never really reached the heights that he was billed to reach on the field and union has 'gained' a player who has apparently never played the game before.
If Burgii #1 is really going to be fast tracked into the England RU side you would have to think that aint going to go down well with all the RU players who play the game week in week out. That's like having a load of fully qualified truck drivers looking on as a plum job is given to someone who has only ever ridden a moped before.