He'll stay at Bath until May then back to RL.

Sam will have made his own mind up. As he did when deciding to go to RU - was a surprise to all his family.

He's obviously not staying at Bath as he would have come out and said so.

Wish the lawyers would get a move on and document Sam's wishes.

My bet is one year at Rhinos then off to Rabbitohs.

Get a move on and Sam could be on the bench for 3rd Test v NZ!!

It'jj be difficult as under that scenario Leeds would pay a big transfer fee that they would need be be sure Souths will then underwrite.

The fact that he's been back at Bath a couple of days and hasn't said anything publicly himself suggests he's at least strongly considering Souths, but I'm still not convinced he will not see out his contract at Bath. If he does there'll be the usual mealy-mouthed press release stating how happy he is to stay with Bath, never seriously considered RL etc.

As I've mentioned before, Ford helped cause some of Sam's problems by simply seeing him as a great RL player but having no clue as to how he'd be used in RU. These are quotes from when Burgess signed:

"Ford said he had not discussed potential positions with Burgess and had no preconceived ideas.

“First thing is for him to get over here and learn the laws; what he can do and can’t do in the tackle area. When he’s ready he might play a few games in our 2nd team. There’s no hurry, we’ve signed him for three years.

“England seem to want him at 12, and he might end up playing at 12 for us if that where he’s most effective. We’ll just throw him in and see how he goes.”

When you actually read the above its mind-boggling that they spent a small fortune signing Burgess. It's also clear that on the day he signed the potential conflicts with England were there - Ford talking in terms of Burgess learning his trade when England clearly wanted him fast-tracked, and England's coaches seeing him as a centre from day one. None of the RU coaches come out of that sounding particularly bright.

A few harsh words from some hacks and ex players with less talent and Sam jacks it in, I'd say what a fecking drip, get a grip of yourself, knuckle down to play for the team you signed for and honour the contract.
Reneging on his deal would make him look a bit of a soft d twunt, people in the RU world would rightly say, yeah, took the dollar, was hyped up and couldn't hack it, a few critical words and he's running back to the chippy northerners faster than you can say Iestyn Harris.
To my mind that would damage his stock more and him as a person too as he'd be deemed a failure.

It wouldn't damage him in Sydney, which is where he'd end up and where his earnings outside the game could be huge. The story would be all about the return of the king. Nobody would care how he did for England.

Its also a tad hypocritical to take that attitude when Burgess has already walked away from a contract early, albeit at significant cost to Bath.

In the Guardian Bath's owner reckons he'll stay to the next WC, and that nobody has even contacted Bath about Burgess. He also says that Bath always saw Burgess as a forward - methinks an attempt to rewrite history there as Ford's comments (quoted when Sam signed) suggest they hadn't made up their mind where he'd play.

Mind you, Ford's quotes also show that whilst England may not have funded Sam's move to Bath, they wanted him fast-tracked if at all possible for the WC.

I continue to think he'll stay in RU.

He is alleged to have told the England RL dressing room he is not going back to RU. Suspect therefore he's suffering depression or more likely Bath are playing hard ball over the contract and won't release him or at least not easily. There are other factors - he has an Aussie girlfriend and family in Sydney. That must be another factor I would guess. If he did leave Bath they could easily agree a press release that he loved it but his girlfriend was home sick, etc. RU won't want to let him go without a fight as he's been a major political football in terms of getting RL supporters watching their WC and talking about it and shoeing they can take the best players from the NRL.

That's a bit of a leap. It reminds me of Time Team, they find a brooch and a rectangular building and declare it a Roman temple, later backtracking and deciding it was a farm building.

Nothing is clear in the Burgess situation. I think personally this whole 'will he won't he' stuff is just PR from Burgess's camp. They are trying to play the PR card and goad a RL side into making a stellar bid. No one has done that so far, so I guess he'll probably stay in Union.

I'd also be surprised if his contract at Bath didn't have some sort of loyalty bonus in it, which he'd be waving goodbye to if he actually asked for a move.

Much easier to wait until he has a definite destination lined up, then try to get the buyer to reach an agreement with Bath without him having to request a transfer.

To be fair, I hardly think that was a big factor. The number of RL fans who watched games they otherwise wouldn't have done would be a drop in the ocean in their global audience.


Apparently the talk in Oz is, he's wanting $1.5m pa. How you fit that under a salary cap, God knows.

Have to say, I'm starting to get a bit fed up with the whole soap opera.

No statement from Sam must be annoying the hell out of the Union Media Spin Doctors, if I was him I would just carry on with normal business at Bath and make the media more rumour stupid than it already is.

He's on $1.2 mill at bath and would demand a transfer fee so not a cheap option for any NRL club.

No. I'm guessing Sam's mind is made up and he's told his manager of the move to RL he wants.

The messages coming out of the Bath RU hierarchy are just an attempt to get as big a transfer fee as possible. But they didn't seem too bothered about the question of honouring contracts when Sam was tapped up and induced to leave South Sydney.

Sam is also being well advised. Turn up. Train. Say nothing publicly. Play if asked - all so contract is not breached.

Then you have Hetherington - also saying the right things but this time so as to minimise any transfer fee. I don't care how much money the Bath owner might have left, he won't be able to out-canny GH.

All means it takes time, especially if the deal has to cover the financial arrangements for Leeds for 2016 and Souths for 2017+.

But, as you see in soccer, if a player doesn't want to play for a particular club or if his heart isn't in it, they will always get the move in the end.

Will be glad when Sam is finally back in RL and we can get on with the game and leave the Union lot to get on with their own game.

Released from Bath Rugby with immediate effect, per BBC Sport