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Burgess the game's best forward - thanks to SBW

Roar Rookie
17th June, 2014
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How good would Sam Burgess charging into the Maroons in a Blue jersey look? (AAP Image/Dan Himbrechts)
Roar Rookie
17th June, 2014
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1313 Reads

Sam Burgess may be leaving at season’s end, but boy is he leaving with a bang.

He is the form forward of the 2014 season and ‘Slammin Sammy’ is leaving the NRL at the peak of his powers. Currently tied with Jarryd Hayne on top of the Dally M leaderboard, it makes you wonder if have we ever seen a better forward in the NRL?

The only current player even comparable to Burgess is his arch-rival, Rooster Sonny Bill Williams. Sonny Bill Williams has been around a bit longer than Sammy has, making his debut all the way back in 2004, yet has only played 107 games in first grade – only 23 more than his South Sydney counterpart.

The two superstars have played each four times since Williams’ return from union, and the pair certainly throw the book at each other. Burgess has come up trumps on two of the four occasions (both for South Sydney) while Sonny’s only club win against Sam came in their Round 26 clash last year, with Sonny Bill walking away with not only a win, but also the J.J. Giltinan shield.

The most astounding part of the clashes though, is the man-of-the-match award. Sam has claimed the award in three of their four clashes, two for South Sydney and one for England in the semi-final against New Zealand in last year’s World Cup.

In their only other game, it was Sonny that was named best man on the park.

It was never easy for Sam. His father Mark tragically passed away with motor neurone disease, leaving behind his mother Julie and four young boys in Sam, Luke, Tom and George.

He also left behind a legacy, one that would be carried on through each and every son. Sam was Mark’s primary carer. He would pick up his father in the morning and carry him into bed of a night.

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His older brother Luke has the poem read at his father’s funeral tattooed on his arm. The twins were just 14 when he passed away. The tight-knit clan, lured to Redfern by Souths owner Academy Award-winner Russell Crowe, has been through the roughest of times and pulled through it closer than ever.

Sam entered the NRL as a young man with a life full of hardship. He was labelled ‘Great Britain’s Sonny Bill Williams’ at the age of seventeen. When he walks out to play against his nemesis at season’s end, he’ll be labelled as the man who surpassed Sonny Bill.

He will be a man known not just by his on-field performances, but by his courage and his ability to do what is best for his family.

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