Sam Burgess almost signed for Manly

Injured Rabbitohs’ prop Sam Burgess opens his budget in an insightful interview on Matty Johns Podcast on Watch NRL. Catch all the NRL Premiership matches and latest news live from the UK when you stream Watch NRL. Friday James Graham leads St George in a charge against the Cowboys 9am BST and John Bateman and Josh Hodgson’s Raiders take on the Eels Saturday 10.35am BST. Every NRL round live and on demand on Watch NRL.

England star Sam Burgess has revealed he nearly signed for Manly instead of South Sydney in 2010.

Speaking on the Matty Johns Podcast, Burgess told how his former Bradford teammate Steve Menzies got him in touch with the Sea Eagles management

“I told him (Menzies) I had an ambition to play in the NRL. We played together and we were playing some good football and he said ‘mate, you’ve gotta go’.

“So he was ringing Dessie: ‘Dessie, mate, you’ve gotta get this kid’. I was ringing Dessie: ‘Dessie, listen, I’ll come. I don’t want any money, just give me an opportunity and I’ll do the rest for ya’.

“But they couldn’t make it work.”

Sam then received a call from Rabbitohs owner Russell Crowe a few weeks later and would sign for the Bunnies after the film star convinced him of the move to Redfern.

“Over the next two weeks, I became entrenched in South Sydney and they managed to swing a deal,” Burgess said.

“I didn’t really care about the deal. I just wanted an opportunity. I just cared about not leaving Bradford in a bad spot and that all worked out.

“They put the deal on the table and we all agreed.”

Read and listen to the full interview here.