So Sam's back. A little over a year after leaving the Rabbitohs, with a busted up face, a Clive Churchill medal and the keys to Redfern after helping break their long premiership drought, Sam Burgess is returning to league and the NRL.
It was never meant to be this way. The 26-year-old was supposed to be at the forefront of England's Rugby World Cup campaign, if not winning it then at least going deep into the final stages. Burgess was meant to be one of the final pieces of the puzzle, but a successful conversion within the space of 12 months was always going to be a big ask.
It didn't help that the English team were a bit of a shambles behind the scenes - they didn't really know what they wanted or how they were going to do it and had far too many coaching opinions in the mix - as has been revealed by their poor results at the tournament.
But the way Burgess has been treated since the World Cup has been a disgrace. Those old boys from the English rugby media were quick to put the boot in to the man from the 'Northern game.
Indeed, a casual observer here might be mistaken for thinking that England's demise was almost all down to Burgess's failings, such was the savage reaction of the rugby fraternity here and their media. It almost felt like the RFU were happy to hang Burgess out to dry, to take some of the heat off their failings.
