Revealed: Sam Burgess will fight allegations of domestic violence
A devastated Sam Burgess is “lying low” with his family following the bombshell allegations of domestic violence against his former wife Phoebe — but has vowed to fight the claims. A friend has revealed the NRL star is angry and “feels like he doesn’t have a voice”.
NSW
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Sam Burgess will fight bombshell allegations of domestic violence and has told friends his decision to stand down from his coaching job at South Sydney isn’t an admission of guilt.
The former Rabbitohs star and his ex-wife Phoebe Burgess spent Saturday bunkered down with their respective families amid fallout from explosive claims of substance abuse, violence and a club cover-up, which Burgess has strongly denied.
Members of the Burgess family, including mum Julie and oldest brother Luke, met with lawyer Bryan Wrench in Coogee on Saturday.
A close friend of Sam Burgess told The Sunday Telegraph on Saturday night he was “lying low” with his mother Julie and two of his brothers and was devastated by the allegations of violence.
“He is angry and feels like he doesn’t have a voice,” the friend said.
“Domestic violence is something that is abhorrent to him, which makes it all the more harder to stomach.”
Burgess stepped down from his role as Rabbitohs development coach on Friday after an investigation by The Australian.
It came after Ms Burgess walked into a Southern Highlands police station with a 50-page sworn affidavit detailing the allegations against her ex-husband on Wednesday.
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The statement alleged club doctor Andrew McDonald gave Burgess a liquid tranquilliser obtained with a prescription in the name of Burgess’s father-in-law Mitch Hooke. In her affidavit, Ms Burgess expressed her concern about her husband’s alleged heavy reliance on prescription drugs, including Xanax, Kalma and Innovane.
NSW Police on Saturday established Strike Force Irrabella to investigate the allegations.
Ms Burgess has spent the past few days with family in Bowral looking after her children.
Contacted on Saturday, her manager Sharon Finnigan said: “Phoebe is trying to get by and manage and care for her two children … She is doing her best as a single mother.”
After Ms Burgess’s statement was made public, more claims emerged of her ex-husband’s infidelity, including an alleged romance with a Melbourne woman in 2017 and early 2018.
Hundreds of text messages between the pair were revealed in The Saturday Telegraph.
It is understood Ms Burgess was unaware of the extent of his alleged affair.
His close friend last night said the allegation of violence in the family home was the most devastating.
“He’s the one to break up a fight,” the friend said.
“He is never violent. He will fight this.”