Sam Burgess sets record straight on South Sydney Rabbitohs exit

Just weeks after being confirmed as the future Warrington Wolves head coach, Sam Burgess left South Sydney Rabbitohs under a cloud and the Wire boss has now set the record straight.

Burgess had returned to South Sydney as an assistant coach but left ominously a fortnight after being confirmed as Warrington boss and in the midst of a terrible run of form for the club.

Souths claimed that the departure was to allow Burgess time to focus on his upcoming Wire role and the birth of his child but rumours swirled about a falling out between himself and head coach Jason Demetriou, who was himself sacked earlier this season.

After his recent contract extension with Warrington, Sam Burgess spoke with Eddie Hemmings on Hemmings’ ‘Eddie & Stevo Podcast‘ where the 35-year-old set the record straight on is exit.

It had been put to him by Hemmings that he had left Souths because he was unhappy with the defence, something Burgess would strongly refute.

Sam Burgess lifts the lid on South Sydney Rabbitohs exit

Sam Burgess was quick to pick Hemmings up, stating: “Well, I mean that’s a bit incorrect. I never questioned the defence or anything like that. That’s how the media like to spin it a little bit over there.”

He would go on to explain that the media scrutiny and the lines that were ‘spun’ were “pretty disappointing” as well as being incorrect.

“It was pretty disappointing how things finished over there and some of the commentary that followed because a lot of the commentary is just actually incorrect.

“There was a lot of commentary around myself and disagreeing with the standards between a couple of players, which is incorrect. Whatever I thought of those players, I would speak to them about it personally.

“I think just the way the stories were displayed in the media and then how things were dealt with internally in South Sydney, I didn’t agree with the leadership there.”

Burgess fires slight dig at Souths

Having clarified the situation that unfolded from his perspective, as opposed to the one that had been reported in the Australian media, Sam Burgess fired a slight dig at Souths as he claimed that they’d perhaps deal with the issues differently “if they had their time again”.

“If we all had our time again, I think we’d do things a little bit differently. There’s still commentary coming out there which I disagree with but I choose not to get involved in it,” he explained before clarifying the rumour about him calling out two of Souths’ star players.

“I care about the two players that were mentioned quite a lot, Cody (Walker) and Latrell (Mitchell), I always care about those guys but it’s just the nature of the beast sometimes, it goes that way and I thought best for me to just move on.

“I didn’t see any benefit in me staying around until the final week at the club. I can’t pretend to be someone I’m not. It was better for everyone.

“We’d already agreed to come here, so I was going anyway, that’s why I found it all quite strange with the way it unfolded and maybe that was a bit of pressure for a few people. I dare say, given their time again, they might deal with things differently but that’s just the way it goes.”

He’s now flourishing at Warrington Wolves despite the club’s loss to Hull KR that’s seen them sacrifice a chance at going top of Super League.