Sam Burgess, the South Sydney and England forward, has been forced to call time on his rugby league career as a result of a chronic shoulder injury that blighted his 2019 NRL season.
The 30-year-old said he had no choice but to end his playing days as he confirmed his retirement on Wednesday afternoon. “This decision was one of the hardest decisions I’ve had to make in my life,” said Burgess, who played 182 times for South Sydney.
“However the decision was out of my hands essentially. I am no longer able to be myself day-in, day-out on the training field and consequently the playing field.”
“I have loved absolutely every minute: the highs, the lows, the grand final, coming home, my injuries, my dates with the judiciary. It really has been a fantastic ride.”
The Rabbitohs captain had long battled shoulder issues but the discovery of an irreparable condition followed surgery earlier this season and it became progressively worse.
“He was one of the drawcards for me in coming to coach at South Sydney,” his club and international mentor Wayne Bennett said. “I was lucky enough to coach Sam in the All Stars game in 2010. I’d had heard so much about this Englishman that I had to see him for myself.
“Then I had the opportunity to coach him with England and I was hoping to coach him again this year with Great Britain. I’m glad to have played a small role in his career and I feel blessed that he has been part of mine. I know he has made the right decision.”
The loss of such a key player will be a major blow to the Rabbitohs, who also lost Greg Inglis prematurely this year. His imminent exit with three years to run on a multi-million dollar deal presents questions about the effect on South Sydney’s salary cap, given his retirement is based on medical grounds.
The Rabbitohs are yet to formally request cap dispensation but it’s believed they soon will given it is a new injury stopping Burgess playing again. The fact he is retiring before the beginning of the next rugby league year on November 1 could mean his entire wages are stricken from the 2020 cap if their application is successful.
Burgess will go down as one of the NRL’s great forwards. He has played 182 games for the club since arriving in 2010, and was the Clive Churchill medallist in their drought-breaking 2014 grand final success – after playing the majority of the game with a fractured cheekbone sustained in the opening moments.
Tough and rugged in the middle, he has been the leader of the Rabbitohs’ forward pack since his NRL debut in 2010. He also played 88 games for Bradford in the English Super League, and represented England at the 2015 Rugby World Cup during a brief switch to the 15-man code.
Kangaroos coach Mal Meninga said Burgess was up there with some of the best Englishmen to have played in the NRL. “In my time he is certainly No 1 or No 2,” Meninga said. “I think Ellery Hanley was probably in that space as well. But in my time, he has done a fantastic job for England and paved the way for more Englishman to come out. He’s been a great pioneer for them.”
Meninga’s comments come after NRL chief executive Todd Greenberg on Tuesday described the 30-year-old Burgess as an ornament of the game, as speculation over the Souths star’s future mounted. “He’s the sort of player people want to watch,” Greenberg said. “He’s the sort of player I like to watch... He’s been a great competitor in our game, he’s one of the best.”
His retirement will come just months after Inglis had to call time on his career, and leaves brother Tom as the only remaining Burgess at Souths with George returning to Super League.
