SNAPSHOT OF THE NRL CAREER OF SAM BURGESS
* 2010 – Hand-picked by Russell Crowe to join South Sydney after 88 games for Bradford. Makes an immediate impact as the Rabbitohs miss the finals by just two competition points.
* 2011 – Joined by brother Luke at Souths, but plays just four games after injuring his shoulder and ankle.
* 2012 – Rookie coach Michael Maguire joins Souths and they make the preliminary final for the first time since 2007 and just the second time since 1989. Brother George is signed by the club, uniting three of the four siblings.
* 2013 – Souths sign brother Tom, and all four Burgess boys create history they take the field together in an NRL game. Souths are again knocked out of the preliminary finals.
* 2014 – Announces he is leaving the NRL at the end of the season, making the switch to rugby union. His final game is the Rabbtiohs’ 30-6 grand final win over Canterbury. Etched his name into rugby league folklore when he fractured his cheekbone in the first hit up but played on, and was awarded the Clive Churchill Medal. It’s the club’s first premiership since 1971, breaking a 43-year drought.
* 2015 – Plays in England’s failed 2015 Rugby World Cup campaign and returns to the NRL on a deal worth a reported $1.5 million per season. It forces Souths to offload a number of players.
* 2016 – Appointed captain of Wayne Bennett’s England team for the Four Nations. Later criticised by the coach for a lack of discipline. Souths miss the finals.
* 2017- Souths miss the finals and coach Maguire is replaced by assistant Anthony Seibold for 2018.
* 2018 – Embroiled in an off-field scandal where Rabbitohs players were accused of exposing themselves to a woman over social media using what was believed to be his account. News broke before the preliminary finals, and South were knocked out by Sydney Roosters. The players were later cleared of any wrongdoing over the lewd photo incident.
* 2019 – Appointed captain by new Souths coach Bennett, but battles injury. Created controversy when suspended for the first week of the finals for pulling an opponent’s hair. Burgess was fined for contrary conduct and a high tackle earlier in the season, and carry-over points forced his suspension. He then labelled the NRL judiciary a “kangaroo court”, and was punished for his comments with a suspended $10,000 fine and forced to issue a public apology. In his final NRL game, was taken from the field on 52 minutes against Canberra in the preliminary final clutching his left shoulder.