"First option" is usually actually "first and last option". Which means Burgess would first have to negotiate with Bradford, but then could explore other options. If he than agrees terms with another team (eg Leeds) Bradford would have "last option" to match the terms being offered there, in which case Burgess would have to sign for them.

That's assuming there *is* such a clause and it isn't invalidated by Bradford not being in the top league. Or whether Bradford is even the same corporate entity as the Bradford Burgess left, which would also invalidate any clause.

even on sky web sight they say in OZ they are sorting out is contract so it might be true he is coming back to league

no matter how painful it is for bath, if sam burgess has told them he is done with union and wants to go back to league then there is no point them keeping an unhappy player.

There isn't. Sam has also shown that contracts mean squat to him, so waving his Bath contract in his face won't mean anything to him. Having said that I think he'll stay at Bath at least for this contract, as he'll be desperate not to be seen as a failure.

Yeah, he's gonna stay at Barth.

"Rested" again for this weekends game even though Bath have a few injuries to deal with.

Sadly' when Burgess comes back to Rugby League, the reaction in the Union world will be minimal. He will just be a league long shot who could not cut it. For all the excitement on here his attempted switch will only have shown us in a negative light. A move to Super League would just compound that perception of failure for Union types. The sooner he gets back to Australia and plays at the top level the sooner we can forget about this farce.

The story is looking like it must have something behind it as it's now being reported on sky. They don't usually report stuff without a decent source.

It must have been pretty devastating for Sam to read interviews from his fellow team mates that his selection caused such a rift in the squad and was blamed for a disastrous WC.

i disagree. he made the England team within a few months, and were leading Wales by 7 points when he was taken off. in my opinion had Burgess remained on the field England wud av won. J Roberts thought, right Burgess is off, give me the ball.

There is no problem with this whatever
Burgess' pride may be slightly hurt but, it makes sense all round to get the guy playing a better sport that he is superb at playing.
Also, "failing" at the other code happened all the time back in the 80's but, in those days, it was the Union boys that couldn't hack playing League.

nah, Sky just want ratings. And they've just taken it frm Danny Weidler (Chann.9). The Mole on twitter, is the most reliable source on RL stuff I've come across.

I'd agree with that. If the Union media wanted a scapegoat, it should have been that prop (Marler?) {and the forwards coach} who wouldn't push straight or whatever that resulted in so many penalties (and points) against England RU.

Agree that Sam's initial instinct would be to fight on to make a success. BUT he's subsequently come to realise:

- After a much needed rest, he is wasting his life / talent putting himself on a RU field where they require only a fraction of what his talents can offer
- How unjustifiably nasty the Union mafia media can be
- He doesn't enjoy the game of Union and misses playing RL
- NRL is more intense over a season than SL - so his best option is Leeds Rhinos (with or without a possible final 3 or 4 years in the NRL) after at least one year at Headingley. (My guess is he'll opt for the middle way of seeing out his career with the Rhinos and looking forward to playing for England in the 2016 Four Nations and 2017 Rugby League World Cup).

Guessing it's gone quiet as there are a lot of negotiations going on behind the scenes with the involvement of lawyers!

With him not playing RU again this week, it looks like Sam's on his way home.

The Union media will put whatever spin on it they want - but my guess is that the less blinkered Union people will watch on SKY and see Burgess starring and displaying amazing talent again for both Leeds Rhinos (hopefully many more times at Wembley and Old Trafford) and England RL (including hopefully helping us win the RL World Cup IN Australia in 2017) and start to see that the problem is not Sam Burgess but in fact the nature of the Union game.

Perhaps this is being looked at from the wrong angle. Is there not a real chance that Bath are the ones who have made the choice for Sam and have made it known to various Chairmen that he is available for transfer?

If they have they haven't told Mike Ford. He's in the press again saying it's all lies and he's going to extend his Bath contract.

The whole thing strikes me as Burgess fancying a bit of what SBW has. He is an expert at swinging between the codes and there was constant speculation about his future, which is great from a PR point of view. Burgess seems to be following the same business model, big speculation and move to RU. Then the selection (Which was a pre-agreed part of his contract, don't let them fool you otherwise) for England keeps him in the press. Had he just sloped off back to Bath he would have fallen out of the headlines, so instead he's started the rumours of the move back to the NRL to keep his name in the press. His appearance at the England RL game was needless, especially sitting next to the coach.

IMO it's all a big PR smear. He'll stay in Union this season and beyond if he gets picked by the Lions. If not, he'll return to League.