Rabbitohs board to be told Sam Burgess needs to retire

[josie andrews]

At a recent golf day, Rabbitohs enforcer Sam Burgess was asked in front of a gathered audience if he would play in the NRL again.

He didn’t pull any punches when he said it wasn’t looking good – in other words the message was he thought he’d have to retire.

The Souths board will meet this week. The message they will hear is that Burgess needs to retire.
From what we have been told, the infection in his shoulder has ruined it. That is key to both his playing future and South Sydney’s ability to write off his contract should he pull the pin.

Burgess has been told the infection means he can’t have more work on the area for a year.

That’s been a fact Sam has been processing and he is shocked.

It’s a reality Burgess is trying to come to terms with.

We will learn more in coming days as Souths deal with medical reports. A retirement media conference for Burgess is on the cards this week.

NRL rules state that the salary-cap auditor may only grant a club relief if a retiring player had no similar injury before the start of their current contract.

The evidence that the injury is a fresh one is strong, from South Sydney’s point of view. The infection coming after the injury is crucial.

Souths are not going to try to prevent Burgess from getting his legal entitlement for his contract – but if Burgess retires, they will need to prove he is salary-cap exempt to make a play for a star forward to replace him. David Fifita and Jai Arrow would be near the top of their list.

For all the discussion of Burgess’ playing future, at the moment it is not the biggest problem he is dealing with.

His marriage collapse is a far bigger issue in his life.

He reconnected with his wife, Phoebe, after their first public break-up last year, out of a desire to keep his family together.

Say what you want about Burgess as a husband – plenty have – his love of his children can’t be disputed. It’s believed his verbal spray of Phoebe’s father, Mitchell Hooke, related to his ability to access his kids.

Burgess was subsequently issued with a temporary apprehended violence order by NSW police. A hearing at Moss Vale Local Court on November 6 will tell us more.

https://www.smh.com.au/sport/nrl/rabbi ... 534jm.html

[ddtftf]

Give him 6 months rest and our surgeons magic hands and sign him for Wigan. still better than our props with one arm lol

May be he just wants to come home with George and Rabbitoes want to cash in on a younger prop