Tom Burgess doesn’t mind being the Bunnies’ last Burgess
Luke left, George is going home and Sam is retiring. It is the end of an era at South Sydney, with only one of the “Burgi” keeping the family name at the Rabbitohs.
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Tom Burgess says he is no stranger to being the only Burgess around.
For so long the four “Burgi” brothers have featured in South Sydney colours. In more recent years it has been Sam, Tom and George since older brother Luke left for Manly in 2015.
But with Sam retiring and George Wigan-bound, Tom will be the only Burgess at Redfern next year.
“It’s not too strange really,” Tom said. “I was the only Burgess in the Super League. Then I was the only Burgess playing for England one year. It’s not something I think about as a big thing.
“It was cool and a bonus to play with my brothers. I knew it wasn’t going to last for each other. I’m just happy for the time we had together.”
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Tom’s Great Britain commitments and Sam’s holiday has meant contact between the pair has been limited. They have exchanged messages but Tom knew his brother’s situation was dire.
“It’s not like something that I’ve just found out,” Burgess said. “I’ve known for a fair bit. Everyone is reacting to it now.
“Life goes on. We have to celebrate his career and talk about the good times we had together.
“He kept (the pain) to himself to be fair. It’s not something he wanted to burden (us with). He can’t be influenced. It’s something he made himself. It’s not something we were in great dialogue about.
“It’s something we spoke about briefly and potentially happening. He had a bit of pain and had that infection. From there something wasn’t right. Something happened.
“It can get really bad those infections. Something has happened to the shoulder.”
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Burgess said once he finishes with the Great Britain he will take some time to celebrate alongside his brothers.
“I haven’t seen him really since we finished,” Burgess said. “I’ve been playing and you get into that tunnel vision mode where you have to concentrate on your job at hand.
“We’ll have some time when I finish all this. We will sit down together and not be sad but think about the good times. That will be pretty cool.”
Originally published as Tom Burgess doesn’t mind being the Bunnies’ last Burgess