It was his brother Tom earlier in the week, now it’s former Wigan Warriors forward George who is reportedly set for a shock move.
George has found it hard going in recent weeks and months, admitting himself into rehab back in July over a serious gambling addiction whilst his playing career has hardly taken off at the St George Illawarra Dragons.
The hulking England international has been in and out of the Dragons’ side under head coach Anthony Griffin, but will not play again in 2022 and may well leave the club at the end of the season, according to the Daily Telegraph.
Burgess has had a tough number of years on the field, too.
After joining Wigan ahead of the 2020 Super League season, Burgess found the going tough, making just eight appearances before having to undergo severe surgery on a chronic hip problem.
Following that intense rehab, the Englishman managed to find a new club willing to take him on – the Dragons – and he somehow battled back to full fitness to earn a cut-price deal.
In doing so, Burgess became the first rugby league player to ever make it back from that type of surgery, but it was off the field where the problems again manifesting.
According to the Daily Mail it was reported that it was during Burgess’s extended time on the sidelines in the UK that his gambling increased.
Sources close to the England international say he ‘got lost’ betting on horses and greyhounds and, in doing so, has lost ‘hundreds of thousands’ of dollars.
Following on from that tough period off the field, on 23 March, it was announced that Burgess had been arrested and charged with sexually touching a woman’s bottom without her consent.
He has pleaded not guilty and will face a hearing in February next year, but it has certainly hit him hard and the rugby league fraternity needs to lend a shoulder.
With rugby league being a results-based industry, it is looking unlikely that Burgess will stay on at the Dragons, but stranger things have happened.
