The Bath coach, Mike Ford, has again denied Sam Burgess is set to leave the club and return to rugby league, adding that he knows nothing of any interest from Leeds Rhinos despite the Super League champions confirming they would be interested in signing the 26-year-old if the opportunity arises.
Burgess returned to training at Farleigh House on Monday after a 10-day break in Spain to decide where his future lies. He has reportedly told the Premiership club he wants to return to rugby league just over a year into a three-year contract with them.
Burgess’ former club, South Sydney Rabbitohs, are understood to be trying to secure a deal to take him back to Australia but Ford has reiterated that he expects the dual-code international to remain at Bath until the end of his deal. “Yes, we expect Sam to stay,” said Ford. “He has got two years left on his contract.”
When asked if Burgess had informed Ford he wanted to leave the club, the Bath coach said: “No. We’ve had a good talk about everything, as we have had with all the World Cup players, asking what they want to do.
“Sam wanted to come in and the plan was for him to be picked on the bench for the first two Premiership games of the season and then start the next two.
“He came to training and played the first game, but then he came to training on the Tuesday after and that’s when it hit him. After the World Cup, it hits people in different ways. Everyone is different and with Sam it was a case of go away, take 10 days off. In that time there’s been a lot of speculation.
“Sam’s frame of mind since he’s come back has been brilliant. He’s come in and cracked on and has trained very well for these couple of days. It’s good.”
However, the Leeds chief executive, Gary Hetherington, confirmed to the Guardian on Tuesdaythey are interested in rivalling Souths for Burgess’ signature and have informed Bath. However Ford was quick to deny that was the case. “Well they haven’t for a start,” Ford said when asked if the Yorkshire club had registered an interest. “The one thing with Sam is that there’s always speculation following him. What’s shocked me a little bit is that it’s never died down since he first came over 12 months ago. There’s always a story to be written. I’ve just been told about the Leeds story. It’s all speculation because I’ve not heard anything about that.”
The Guardian revealed on Sunday Leeds had entered the race for Burgess’ signature. Hetherington said they have the capability to sign the player and would be keen to do so if he becomes available.
“We have registered an interest,” Hetherington said, before clarifying that no formal approach has been made. “We are fully aware he is contracted to Bath but we are waiting in the wings if Bath allow him to speak to clubs.
“We’re obviously reading what’s in the media and if Sam was made available we’d certainly be interested in bidding for his services. We recognise Souths would be favourites but if that didn’t happen for whatever reason, Leeds would be keen to invest in bidding for his services.
“We’ve not made a formal approach because we recognise he’s under contract but we’ve registered our interest in him if he becomes available. It’s a watching brief from our point of view; we respect Bath’s position but the ball is in their court.”
Hetherington also confirmed any transfer fee and salary demands would not be an issue to the Rhinos, who would utilise the newly introduced marquee player ruling to land Burgess.
“We’ve just had a record year both on and off the field,” he said. “That follows the previous year which was also a record, so we’ve got the means to enter the transfer market if the right player became available.”
Should Bath relent and let Burgess return to league, South Sydney are believed to have first option on his signature. However, if the NRL club cannot fit him under their salary cap, it is understood Leeds could strike and bring him to Super League on a one-year deal before a permanent return to Sydney in 2017.
