Luke Burgess has admitted he hopes his short-term stay with Salford will be the catalyst to earning a contract back in the National Rugby League next year.
Burgess, the older brother of the dual-code international Sam and the South Sydney twins Thomas and George, has signed a deal with the Red Devils until the end of the season, and will make his debut against Huddersfield on Sunday.
He joins Salford from Manly having made just two appearances in the NRL this season and hopes to revive a career which he admits has stalled. The 29-year-old insists that with a young family still in Australia, he wants this spell to show NRL clubs that he is worthy of a deal for 2017 as opposed to a longer-term stay at the AJ Bell stadium.
“I’ve left my family behind in Australia and that’s where I see myself long-term,” Burgess said. “This little period is a chance to come over and play some football and find myself a club back in Australia for next year. However, it’s good to have the opportunity and we’ll just see what happens. I’ve not come back here to pass a bit of time; I’ve come back to play some good stuff.”
Burgess was at Souths during their 2014 title-winning season before joining the Sea Eagles last year, and conceded that he is simply looking forward to playing at the highest level again.
“My career had stalled, definitely,” he said. “It wasn’t how I intended things to go because I just hadn’t had the opportunities I’d have liked. It was disappointing to end things like that so it’s good to be able to get excited about playing again – I can’t wait to get out there.
“My intentions are to live in Australia after I’ve finished playing. When I went over I never thought I’d come back to play in Super League. I never thought I’d leave South Sydney to be honest but things change, and here we are with this opportunity, one I’m really excited about.”
Despite making just two appearances for Manly this year, Burgess, alongside fellow new signing Feleti Mateo, has been playing for the Sea Eagles’ New South Wales Cup side, and he is adamant he will be ready for his Salford debut this weekend in the opening round of the qualifiers.
“When you’re not picked for the NRL side you play for the Cup side there so I’ve been playing regularly,” he said. “It’s just with the last couple of weeks of travelling I haven’t had a game. It’ll be exactly two weeks from when we last played so I’ll be good.”
