Should Sam Burgess be allowed to compete on SAS Australia?

Questions are being asked about whether ex-NRL star Sam Burgess has an unfair advantage on SAS Australia — and whether his pay packet is five times as much as other contestants’.

If a professional dancer is ineligible for Dancing With The Stars, how is a professional footballer of the calibre of Sam Burgess permitted to compete against the likes of celebrity chef Manu Feildel on SAS Australia?

That’s the question that’s been following Burgess since his much talked about casting on the popular Channel 7 reality TV program.

Sam Burgess leads the pack during an SAS Australia challenge.

Burgess, who played professional football for two decades, has completed a number of SAS-style tasks throughout his football career, with former Rabbitohs coach Michael Maguire having previously talked about the gruelling “army camps” he made his players take part in.

In a 2012 interview, Burgess and Maguire spoke about the intense training programs Rabbitohs players participated in, which included high-altitude training in the Grand Canyon, revolutionary GPS tracking data, and “mind resilience training”.

There’s no denying Burgess and fellow SAS footballer, former AFL star Heath Shaw, are familiar with high-intensity fitness testing, helpful in the competition where they are being put through a series of physical and psychological tests from the real SAS selection process alongside an actor, socialite, politician and chef.

Super-fit Burgess (right) with brother Tom at a Rabbitohs training session. Picture: Phil Hillyard

It is also rumoured Burgess — a favourite to take out the reality TV competition — has received the biggest pay packet, earning $150,000 to compete in the series, while other contestants are said to be pocketing between $30,000 and $50,000.

In other Burgess news, as friends rally to rehabilitate Burgess’s reputation after his revelation this month that he cheated on his then-wife Phoebe Burgess and checked himself into rehab over his drug and alcohol use and gambling addiction, Sunday Confidential can reveal he has jetted off to Thailand to take part in a movie.

It’s not yet known what the film is about, however with a lot more time on his hands since his NRL career was ended by a shoulder injury in 2019, perhaps the footballer is planning to swap the sporting field for the silver screen.

Seven was approached for comment.

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Originally published as Should Sam Burgess be allowed to compete on SAS Australia?