Sam Burgess’s decision to move from rugby league to rugby union upset one of his siblings, but eldest brother Luke is adamant it won’t have any bearing on whether the rest of the brood remain at Redfern.
The English Burgess forward quartet of Luke 27, Sam 25 and twins Tom and George, 21, finally all played together in the Rabbitohs side last year.
However, they will be reduced to a trio next year after Sam is released from his contract at the end of the current NRL campaign to move to rugby, where he will stake a claim for England’s 2015 World Cup squad.
“Obviously Sam spoke to us about his ideas and all that sort of stuff, but it was always going to be Sam’s decision at the end of the day,” Luke said.
“I know George wasn’t happy about the decision, but we were really pleased for Sam and really happy that he is going to test himself.
Tom and Luke are signed to the Rabbitohs to the end of 2015 and George until the conclusion of the 2016 campaign.
Luke didn’t anticipate Sam’s decision would have any bearing on the footballing future of his three siblings.
“Not at all, Sam has made his own decision himself,” Luke said.
“Myself Thomas and George, we will continue to make our own decisions too, as to what’s best for ourselves,” Luke said.
Sam has been reluctant to talk about his switch since it was confirmed, but Luke said his brother was “100 per cent” more settled since announcing his decision.
“It was killing him not being able to finally tell,” Sam Burgess said on Tuesday.
“He just really wanted to tell all his teammates and get the news out and then everything was done.
“Now that’s happened, it’s a lot of weight off his shoulders and he’s really enjoying this year as we all saw in round one and he’s looking forward to having a big year.”
Luke wasn’t sure if Sam would one day return to rugby league, but didn’t rule it out.
“Who knows? You just never know what’s going to happen these days and what things might lead to,” Luke said.
“I think the fans would like to think he’d come back and make a return to the NRL.
“We’ll just have to wait and see where his career takes him.”
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