Lote Tuqiri says Sam Burgess return still has South Sydney Rabbitohs with work to do to replicate 2014
THE return of Sam Burgess has lifted the hype around South Sydney’s premiership chances back to levels not seen since the club’s pre-season blitz earlier this year.
In the end the Rabbitohs’ 2015 season fizzled out after the club backed up its 2014 premiership with the Auckland Nines trophy and World Club Challenge victory, which many reasoned was down to the burden of shifting the enormous load of Slammin’ Sam onto others in the side.
With the most famous of the Burgess brothers back in the fold for 2016, the hyperbole around the instant spike the Rabbitohs are set to experience has been staggering.
No one’s a bigger Burgess fan than Lote Tuqiri but even he is guarded when asked to compare the side Burgess is returning to with the one he left.
The reason? The departure of the unsung hero of South Sydney’s 2014 premiership, Ben Te’o.
“We won the comp in 2014,” Tuqiri reminds foxsports.com.au.
“Certainly there’s big elements from that 2014 roster. But guys like Ben Te’o, he was massive in 2014.
“You can’t underestimate the impact he had on the side with his steel in defence and his role as a foil for Burgess in attack.
ISSUE: The first thing Burgess must fix at Souths
“He’s not there anymore and nor are guys like Beau Champion.
“He’s working off-field now for Souths but guys like him in the change room really had an impact to really lighten things up and break things up with a coach like Madge who’s very serious.”
Those factors make Tuqiri reluctant to predict premiership glory for the Rabbitohs in 2016 but neither is he willing to underestimate the impact of Burgess having seen first hand how his aura lifts the whole club.
OUCH: ‘Burgess didn’t have the stomach for rugby’
“You’ll see Luke Keary and Adam Reynolds will really feed off somebody like Sammy Burgess,” Tuqiri said.
“ ... I think it’ll be the halves first and foremost but moreso it’s going to lift morale and confidence for the whole team and that can be understated at times.
“That’ll be massive. That will be huge. You can’t quantify something like this happening for a club — not only for the players but for the fans as well, the confidence in the joint top to bottom will be back.” Ben Te'o celebrates the 2014 premiership with Luke Keary.
Source: News Corp Australia
Tuqiri also subscribes to the theory that Burgess will tighten the discipline of the player group at the end of a 12-month period in which the club has occasionally been dragged through the mud due to off-field issues.
The premiership winger says Burgess “will instil behaviours and standards” that have dropped away, although he’s quick to point out his belief that some of the so-called scandals have been mishandled and overblown.
“Sam is a leader in his own right. When Sam says something to that squad I’m sure they will all listen. They’re quite a young squad and everything else,” Tuqiri said.
“In saying that, I’m disappointed with some of what came out in the media with the Dylan Walker and Aaron Gray stuff.
“I’m disappointed with how Souths handled that. I don’t know the ins and outs of it but it was never an overdose, it’s just been portrayed that way.
“That wasn’t handled the best but with Sam coming back there’ll be an expectation of leading by example. He’s done that in the past and he’ll do that going forward in the Rabbitohs jersey.”While the return of Burgess has been met with joy by the majority of the rugby league community, the response from English rugby has been bitter, with Bath coach Mike Ford leading the way.
Ford blamed Burgess’ departure on his lack of “stomach for a fight”, an assertion that was slammed by Tuqiri.
“It’s easy to say when the bloke’s left the country and he’s in the air,” Tuqiri said.
“You’d like these things to be fleshed out behind closed doors but I think the only bloke who didn’t have the stomach for it is maybe Mike Ford.
“You’d probably say that to a bloke’s face rather than put it out there publicly when he’s halfway across the world but that goes to show the bloke’s true colours and it’s a bit sad that that’s how it’s ended up for Sam and the Bath coach.
“You judge people on how they come back from things but it’s a bit of crying over spilt milk now, which is disappointing from Sam’s point of view.
“I reckon it would have been tougher to hang around and stay in something you weren’t happy doing and Sam’s bit the bullet and let them know ‘this is not for me’.
“I’m sure other people have probably hung around just for the sake of making people happy and I think Sam should be applauded for following his gut and being realistic to himself.”
http://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nrl...o-replicate-2014/story-e6frf3uu-1227605138044
