Sam Burgess playing 7's?
Yeh right.
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sp...s-to-rugby-union/story-fni3gki8-1226830786077
THE NRL secured a $1 billion TV deal last year yet we still can’t afford to keep rugby league’s two best forwards from switching codes. First Sonny Bill Williams chose to return to rugby in 2015 to play for the All Blacks, now Sam Burgess wants a crack at playing for England so he can experience a Rugby World Cup on home soil.
For all the criticism of last year’s Rugby League World Cup and the detrimental impact it could have on this season over burnout fears for the 120-plus NRL players in the tournament, Burgess’ decision to quit the Rabbitohs with two years early highlights why the lure of the Rugby World Cup is the one thing the cashed-up NRL still can’t compete with.
And this is exactly why it is crucial that the NRL does everything in the future to help develop the international game regardless of the inevitable complaints that a tournament like the World Cup is too big a drain on the NRL.
The strength of the international game will always indirectly impact the NRL’s ability to keep its biggest stars, especially those like Burgess and Sonny Bill who don’t have the added attraction of being eligible for State of Origin. Burgess said as much when he broke his silence on his pending switch this week, with the 25-year-old admitting the attraction of becoming a dual international and playing in a Rugby World Cup on home soil was an opportunity he couldn’t ignore.
He also intimated that playing Sevens at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro was a major selling point.
Rabbitohs fans should be thanking their lucky stars that the Australian Rugby Union is too cash-strapped to go chasing a player like Greg Inglis to bolster the Wallabies, given the astonishing impact Israel Folau had on rugby in his first season. And it also raises another point: is the NRL doing enough to make certain the final decision for a star player doesn’t come down to money? Think about the star power we are losing, Burgess, Sonny Bill, Folau and throw in Benji Marshall.
By the end of this year all will be playing rugby union and in 2015 all four could be competing at the World Cup for their respective countries. When NRL boss Dave Smith announced the $1 billion TV deal last year, there was plenty of talk about how that money would help prevent future stars leaving the game after Parramatta missed out on signing Folau. But a year on not much has much really changed.
