I don't know if this is true but this article from Sporting News sounds more promising. If he is considering stem cell treatment, that's a good indication of where his mindset is at. I have no doubt he wouldn't want his career to end like this. Of course, it may end like this, we don't know yet but just the fact that he is considering the treatment in the US is kind of a good sign.
Sam Burgess reportedly considering stem cell treatment as retirement rumours grow
Sam Burgess is reportedly considering travelling to the United States to undergo stem cell treatment amid growing concerns he may have already played his last game of rugby league.
It was this week revealed the 30-year-old will miss Great Britain’s tour of New Zealand and Papua New Guinea as he
battles arthritis in his shoulder.
Burgess has twice had his left shoulder reconstructed and required minor surgery again in June, missing six games as a result.
He returned for South Sydney in Round 20 but aggravated the chronic condition in the Rabbitohs’ semi-final loss to Canberra.
Channel Nine news on Thursday reported Burgess is considering heading stateside to undergo stem cell treatment in a desperate bid to prolong his career.
But
News Limited journalist James Hooper told
Triple M there are genuine fears in the Burgess camp that the big Englishman could be forced to retire before the start of the 2020 NRL season.
“He’s going to go and speak to some surgeons and consult some experts and just get some specific medical advice about exactly where his body is at,” Hooper told
Triple M.
“But the worst-case scenario, and I have to stress that it is the worst-case scenario, is that Sam may have played his last game in the NRL.
“Now that’s not a fait accompli at this point in time … but there are certainly growing concerns that given where Sam’s body is at and all the torture that he’s put it through over the course of a decorated and long career, that perhaps he may need to look at that (retirement) as an option.”
Rugby league writer for
The Australian, Brent Read, last week told Sporting News Australia Burgess' shoulder is a ‘massive issue’.
Read added the big Englishman is next to no chance of seeing out the remaining three seasons of his lucrative deal at the Bunnies.
Former Penrith, Manly and Rabbitohs prop Mark ‘Spudd’ Carroll, who is close with Burgess,
echoed those concerns in an interview with
Macquarie Sports Radio on Thursday.
“I don’t know what you can do, do you go to the (United States) and try something amazing over there?” Carroll said.
“He’s in a really serious position. His movement is horrible, I can’t believe how little movement (45 degrees) he had.”
