A varied and high profile international calendar with sell out crowds?

A rare moment of clarity when an intrinsic brutally honest self appraisal reveals that the player in question is hiding in an inferior game while lying to himself that he's really testing himself to the limit of his mental and physical abilities!

Such a moment can either lead to further hiding and denial or said player can leave the comfort and familiarity of his self delusion and actually seek an answer to the question:
How good am I, Really?

Union players will only ever know this if they play League at the highest level.
I salute those who've done it like Scott Gibbs and Jonathan Davies but cowards like Guscott are just pretending to have been great when the truth is they were alright in a lower standard of Rugby.

avenger, surely it's a bigger cowardice to hide behind your keyboard and call another man a coward, and never having the bottle to say it to their face. And as i said before, for a lad that clearly despises union, you sure must watch it a helluva lot

Eminently sensible I'd have thought. Not sure it'll achieve the objective of speeding up Sam's development as a union player but it has to be worth a go. It's a pity league doesn't have the luxury of B internationals against decent sides to do the same with ours.

That flushed a few out didn't it!

I'm not Greenwood's biggest fan but he writes a good piece about Burgess in the Telegraph. www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rugbyu ... osper.html

I'm not Greenwood's biggest fan but he writes a good piece about Burgess in the Telegraph. www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rugbyu ... osper.html

riley says about greenwood '..a guy who clearly rates himself'. is that the guy who has a world cup winners medal? beats a guy who sits in a room in salford talking out loud. Good to see Jon Wilkin put Riley right, he's a class act on and off the pitch.

No it's not. It's patronising guff. Symptomatic of the stuff that has to be written by ex RU internationals to justify their contract with a broadsheet to write about 'rugby'. Surprised people have been taken in. Just because public school educated sportsmen can write well doesn't mean it's worth reading. It's just a case of 'look at at me, I won a world cup medal playing Union and watch the odd Super League match on TV - so I know all here is to know... blah,blah'. Doubt Sam Burgess will have the time or inclination to read it even if he knows it exists. As Mike Ford has said, they know not to try and change Sam and I guess he has now learned 95% of what he needs to know about playing Union through training with and talking to his new team mates and coaches. The other 5% will come with experience. Nothing for Greenwood to add, thanks a lot.

burgess named on the bench against montpellier tonight

“Dear Sam”
Did you know I attended a private school in Cumbria? I feel like we are kindred spirits.

“Backs Moves – Keep It Simple.”
You are a leaguie. You cannot possibly comprehend the massive hand-signalled complexity of our union backline moves. And like young Anakin Skywalker facing the Jedi Council, you are too old to learn.

“There are times when going to floor and recycling is just as effective. England have conceded numerous tries from turnovers in the last 12 months. A poor Billy Twelvetrees offload in Dunedin cost us the second Test in New Zealand.”
A chap that is not you playing for a team that you don’t play for made an error I noticed (we were all watching!) against a better team six months ago. I hereby declare you likely to make the same mistakes – perhaps worse, as you don’t have as good a name as “Twelvetrees”, who may be the best in the business.

“You are bright enough already, without ever playing a full game of union to know the risky pass from the percentage pass.”
In case I’m not being clear, I am saying you are not bright enough to do this. You need more time with George Ford – the best in the business.

“The back row. They are your enemy. From the back of scrums, from the tail of lineouts, they have their crosshairs pinned on you. You are public enemy number one to any team you play against. Do not be shy. If you are, they will eat you for breakfast.”
I am hereby questioning your toughness and aggression – as I mentioned, I have never watched the NRL before.

“Anyway Sam, that is enough to be getting on with for now.”
You are a leaguie after all, and from you Wikipedia page, it doesn’t even appear as it you went to a public school! Just the 8 areas and 25 tips today. I will annoy in a monthly article just like this one detailing every error I notice (that we were all watching!) and every memory of players I played with 15 years ago. You will hugely appreciate it!

“As an old fella who loves this game, let me say welcome to rugby union young man –”
Let me patronise one last time, you lump of Dewsbury coal.