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Sam Burgess is delusional if he believes he can follow in the footsteps of Sonny Bill Williams to become a dual code international.
Burgess will switch codes to sign with Bath in a bid to play for England in the 2015 Rugby World Cup. But the decision has so many question marks against it, it begs the question why did he do it?
Not so with SBW, who is arguably one of the very best players in both codes, Burgess is a long way short of Sonny Bill Williams in rugby league, so it stands to reason he will be even further behind in rugby once he makes the switch.
The big question is where will Bath coach Mike Ford position Burgess?
Ford has said in the centres, emulating SBW. That won’t work.
Burgess hasn’t the speed nor the ball handling skills to slot into the centres. SBW has both.
That leaves the forwards.
There isn’t enough time for Burgess to learn the science of a rugby prop. He can’t be a hooker.
That leaves the rugby back five. Lock is virtually out of the question, although there are a few valid reason why he could make a reasonable fist of four or five
But six, seven and eight look more appealing, with six the more feasible.
Which all adds up to the massive limitations Burgess can offer rugby.
England rugby coach Stuart Lancaster must be of the same opinion.
“Burgess won’t be getting any armchair ride into the World Cup squad,
“He will have to earn his spot,” predicted Lancaster.
In rugby-speak, that translates to Burgess having to be something right out of the box to even get a look-in.
And the chances of Burgess reaching that exalted status in a season are none and Buckleys.
I have no doubts Sam Burgess will live to regret his decision to switch codes with the only drawcard the Rugby World Cup.
He will miss the camaraderie between the squad at Souths. He will miss the fans who have adopted him, his brothers, and their mother as an integral part of the Rabbitohs’ family, and he will miss the well-earned recognition as being a huge fish in a big pool.
The only Englishmen who have made the league to rugby switch in recent times, and have made the transition work, have been backs. The most recent winger Jason Robinson and centre Andy Farrell who ended up in the forwards.
While SBW will keep receiving rave reviews from both codes, Sam Burgess has this season of NRL to enjoy recognition.
Once he makes the switch at the end of this NRL season, that recognition will dry up overnight, and he will regret making the decision to leave his comfort zone for the rest of his life.