South Sydney captain Sam Burgess to undergo shoulder surgery
South Sydney have suffered a massive hit with inspirational skipper Sam Burgess revealing he will undergo shoulder surgery following Friday night’s Newcastle clash.
NRL
Don't miss out on the headlines from NRL. Followed categories will be added to My News.
South Sydney’s minor premiership hopes have suffered a massive hit with inspirational skipper Sam Burgess revealing he will undergo shoulder surgery following this Friday night’s clash against Newcastle.
The surgery is expected to sideline the English enforcer for five weeks but because of how the State of Origin schedule impacts the NRL draw that will hopefully mean Burgess will only miss two games.
After Newcastle, the Rabbitohs play Penrith in round 14 and then have the weekend off for Origin II before taking on Wests Tigers in round 15.
Burgess said he hopes to return after the round 16 bye so he can line up against Manly in round 17.
“It depends really how it pulls up but I am aiming to get back after our second bye,” Burgess explained.
While Burgess did not want to say how long he has been carrying the injury, The Daily Telegraph understands it initially happened way back in round five against the Warriors.
That means Burgess has been bravely playing through the pain for six weeks now.
But it has become progressively worse, to the point where the pain is now almost unbearable, although Burgess said he had not been using painkilling injections.
Typically, Burgess would not even say which shoulder was injured although he continued to look down to his left while discussing the injury.
Incredibly, that’s the same shoulder Burgess used last Friday night when he came charging out of the line to try and smash Parramatta’s giant winger Blake Ferguson in a huge collision that saw Burgess’ mouthguard come flying out.
Burgess looked to come off second best in the tackle but he wasted no time getting stuck back into the contest, with no one other than his own teammates realising just what torment he was putting his body through.
“Obviously I don’t want to miss any games but I realise I can’t carry it for the rest of the year,” Burgess conceded.
“I can’t do my job effectively so I have to get it fixed.
“If this was round 22 I am not getting it done, but we are in round 12.
“I can’t carry it. I am in too much pain every day. I can’t train. I can’t do any weights. I can’t do anything. I need to get it fixed. I am missing a couple of tackles on it.”
Burgess said there were no concerns the doctors could go in and find further damage because he has already had two reconstructions on the same shoulder.
“So I can’t do any more (damage) to it,” he said.
Teammate John Sutton said he had been blown away by Burgess’ mental toughness.
Sutton said his dressing room locker is right beside where Burgess sits, meaning he has seen first-hand exactly what Burgess has been going through for six weeks now just to get on the field and then how sore it is after every game.
“He is a freak,” Sutton said. “The way he plays and throws his body around … his body is hammered but he inspires all the boys every week with just the way he attacks the game.
“What he has been doing just leads by example.
“As soon as he crosses that line he doesn’t think about anything, he is just hammer and tongs.”
