Sam Burgess: The rise and fall of a Rabbitohs hero

His career was launched on the set of a movie but the script has suddenly turned sour for South Sydney hero Sam Burgess.

Sam Burgess has stepped down from his duties on the South Sydney coaching staff. Picture: Getty Images

The story has been told ad nauseam but it is worth telling again. How South Sydney’s pursuit of Sam Burgess was consecrated on the lush green fields of Hertfordshire, where Rabbitohs co-owner Russell Crowe was shooting the movie, Robin Hood.

Burgess was a swashbuckling footballer himself at the time, a raw-boned lump of aggression who had become a YouTube sensation at the age of 18 after a devastating shoulder charge on former New Zealand star Fuifui Moimoi during a Test match in the north of England in 2007.

Then-South Sydney boss Shane Richardson had been on the case for years but Souths were counting on the charm and guile of Crowe to get the deal over the line.

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So one afternoon, Burgess jumped in a car with some fellow English rugby league players as well as ex-NRL player Dean ­Widders and made the trip to see Crowe.

No one knew what to expect but when they arrived, Crowe charmed the young Burgess. He asked him about family and footy.

He told Burgess about South Sydney and what the club meant to him. They went to dinner, had a few laughs and a friendship was born.

Soon enough, a contract was signed and Burgess was on his way to Australia. It seems fitting that the seeds of Burgess’s career in the NRL were sewn on a movie set ­because that is how his life has sometimes felt.

Salacious gossip one minute, tawdry drama the next. Socialite wife on one arm, a cheeky grin never far away. He sealed his ­legend by playing a grand final with a fractured cheekbone but a wandering eye may ultimately prove his downfall.

Russell Crowe charmed Sam Burgess and persuaded him to sign for South Sydney. Picture: Getty Images

Burgess has been a media darling but he is now in the crosshairs, his place in the game in jeopardy and his reputation in tatters amid stunning revelations about his ­behaviour off the field.

The allegations are jaw-dropping, but in the same way not all that surprising. There has been talk of Burgess drifting off the rails in recent years, his helter-skelter lifestyle only exacerbated by the breakdown of his marriage, which in itself has been played out in ­dramatically public fashion.

Burgess played his career on the edge but if this week’s allegations in The Australian are to be believed, he lived his life in much the same way.

First, a recap. Burgess arrived at Souths with plenty to prove and he did just that. Not long after he touched down, his relationship with Crowe was cemented on an emotional afternoon at the club’s spiritual home of Redfern Oval when the Oscar winner took him to the in-goal and handed him a membership card for his departed father, Mark.

Mark died of motor neurone disease and it was Burgess who nursed him through his final days, carrying him to bed each night. Burgess shed tears at Crowe’s gesture.

For the next decade, he was the one making the eyes of opposition players water. He walked a fine line. On occasions, he crossed it.

He was a fearsome footballer and an inspirational leader. He was arguably the game’s most ­intimidating player. He forged a love affair with Souths that was only broken when he made the ­decision to switch codes and try his hand at rugby union. He played for England in the 2015 Rugby World Cup but returned to rugby league soon after with his ears burning after being forced to listen to claims that he failed as a rugby union player.

While some suggested Burgess was partly to blame for England’s failures, he went on a Twitter ­tirade in which he blamed egos and selfish teammates.

So back to Souths it was and he picked up where he left off. He wasn’t the same player, but he was a leader and was adored by the ­Rabbitohs faithful.

He continued to dice with the judiciary and was sanctioned late last year after claiming it was a kangaroo court.

Those comments caused ­carnage and ended friendships.

Sam Burgess is chaired from the field after South Sydney’s 2014 grand final win. Picture: Gregg Porteous

Richardson and Burgess have barely spoken since, the club’s former head of football having fallen out with his captain after he ­apologised to NRL judiciary chair Geoff Bellew on behalf of the club over the rant.

It is understood Burgess’s relationship with Crowe was strained as well after the co-owner sided with Richardson. Only 12 months earlier, the club had stood by ­Burgess’s amid a sexting scandal.

South Sydney and the NRL eventually decided no Souths player had a case to answer after the woman refused to be ­interviewed.

The physical toll of Burgess’s career was already beginning to show. As he edged towards the end of last season, it became apparent that something wasn’t right.

His marriage to former journalist Phoebe was well and truly on the rocks but his career at Souths was heading to a conclusion.

A shoulder problem had prevented him being the player he wanted to be and he drew the curtain on his career, taking a job on the club’s coaching staff and stepping up his work with Fox Sports.

He has been a confidant for Souths coach Wayne Bennett, the pair sharing a unique relationship over the years. They would appear polar opposites yet Burgess remains a powerful and influential figure in the dressing room.

At least, he was.

As of Friday, he had removed himself from the biosecurity bubble and stepped down from his duties with Fox Sports. He was in damage control as he faced NRL and police investigations into ­allegations of drug use and ­domestic violence.

The news had travelled across the globe, English newspapers running the story prominently on their websites. Burgess has been a familiar sight in the tabloids for his sporting exploits but this was something far different.

Burgess was famously dubbed the sparkly-eyed man by Crowe after his performance in the 2014 NRL grand final, where he defied pain and permanent damage to produce one of the most inspiring performances in grand final history.

If that was the height of his career, this must surely be the nadir.