| Hood: Price must be right for Burgess | | Print | |
| Tuesday, 29 September 2009 18:47 | |||
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7:10am Tuesday 29th September 2009  Sam Burgess has his heart set on a move to Australia The Bulls will drive a hard bargain with South Sydney before allowing Sam Burgess his dream move to Australia. Reports from Down Under claim the Great Britain forward will be unveiled by the Rabbitohs on a three-year deal this week.
But Odsal chiefs have warned the Aussies to expect to pay a “very substantial” compensation bill before anything is sealed. Burgess has another two years to run on his Bulls’ contract but a get-out clause allows him to join an NRL club at the end of next season. But Souths are keen to get a deal hurried through now. They fear that waiting another year would alert the bigger Australian clubs to make room in their salary cap to snatch Burgess from their clutches. That plays into Bradford’s hands, who are adamant that the 20-year-old will not walk away for peanuts. Chairman Peter Hood said: “He can sign all the contracts he likes with a club Down Under but I’ve had no request for a release of his transfer. “Any club must understand that something would have to come across the table – and that something would have to be very substantial. “Everything that’s done is always in the best interests of the club, not the player.”
Steve McNamara was back from holiday yesterday to discuss squad plans for next season with Hood, who admitted there is a selling figure in mind for Burgess. The Bulls have heard nothing official and Souths are refusing to comment on the stories but the strength of the reports suggests that they could be in touch with Odsal in the next day or so. Hood added: “Sam’s always been open about wanting to play in Australia and he wants to test himself at the earliest possible moment. “Usually as a forward, you want to go when you are pretty much approaching your peak. Sam is only 20 and clearly isn’t at his physical peak. “It’s a bit unusual for him to feel so confident that now is the time to do it. “He wants to go as soon as possible and at the moment’s that the end of next year. “The only way it would be earlier is if the club were offered the right amount of compensation.” If a deal can be struck, the Bulls will make sure there is a clause giving them first option should Burgess return to Super League. Your Say YourBradford Telegraph and Argus flashdonut, Bradford says... It's bad news for the club. But what can they do? Sam wants to go to Australia, so what are the options? We could play him next year, but will he put the effort in? Or do we cash in? The Bulls need to be able to retain the players they want though. It's getting desperate. Best forward in SL over last few years, JP, from Bulls academy. Most expensive forward ever, from Bulls academy and 2 out 3 Englishmen likely to be in Aus next year from Bulls academy. We are producing the players, but it's no good if they are playing for other teams. Gumshoe, Queensbury says... “Everything that’s done is always in the best interests of the club, not the player.” When has Hood ever done anything in the best interests of our club???? Craig, Odsal says... Nice try at PR by the club but perhaps this shows why they don't like to venture into the media scrum too much and why we the fans are left in the dark so often. We are being buttered up for the imminent departure of the lad and in most respects the club's hands are tied by the fact that he wants to go. I wish the lad well down under and i hope it proves to be the making of him rather than the end. If it is the making of him, we could put all the clauses in the world into his contract about him only returning to the Bulls but i doubt we would see him back in SL. Indeed it's more likely the whole Burgess clan will end up out there and i can see similar happenings with George and Tom. We hone them into great players in our academy get two or three years out of them in the first team and then it's thanks for the memories but goodbye. Good opportunities for these lads i understand but a shame we don't have any loyal players who we can build this club around. If we do lose Burgess, i would like to think that with the money and the space already available on the cap, we could finally buy/bring in some real quality in the strike positions and finally stop the constant turnover in players every off-season, which is probably costing us on the field as much as the inept management of McNamara. More bad news and i wonder what the season ticket sales count is, under 100 i'd venture at the moment. shaun from richmond, richmond says... "PETER HOOD GETTING THE BEST DEAL FOR THE BULLS"..........ER.. .....I DONT THINK SO!!!! Paul from Idle, Idle says... It is quite easy to see that the Bulls will not spend the full cap. I reckon they budget 50k a player, some will earn less and some will earn more but the average will be 50k. The rest will be banked. This is why the club are not too concerned with results or season ticket sales! This is why,as stated in earlier topics, accountants should not run clubs! Look at the players we have, try and put a value on them and you will see the logic in my thoughts. When Burgess has gone no more 50k + earners......or should I say some will be 70k and some on 30k! Keep coming back to my comments of yesterday, average pay average players,so plain to see. spanglishbull.uk, Roldan Murcia Spain says... Hood talks absolute garbage.Burgess will go for whatever Souths offer or nothing at all at the end of next season.The club is being run by Accountants so what do you think their advice will be.Get real Hood,we are not all thickos on here even if you think most supporters dont have any brains believe me most of them can see through you. BBARL6, Bradford says... If the bulls were still as successful as a few years ago wud he stil want to go????? money talks and im affraid the bulls just dony hae the cash to match any big offers from other clubs. To keep hold of good quality players we need to start winning silverware again. Look at Warrington what have they won in the past 10 years ok Challenge cup this year??? but thats nothing, but due to them having the backing of money men and also a great stadium and coach players want to goplay for them??? Shame the same cannot be said for the Bulls. Affraid to say am now getting very worried that it might be anothr long hard season next year. spanglishbull.uk, Roldan Murcia Spain says... BBARL, It will be another long hard season next year unless the coaching problem is resolved. Adey, Bradford says... I'm sure...wait...yeah I'm pretty certain that Rugby League is a TEAM sport not a ONE-man sport. He clearly WANTS to go to Australia (and lets be honest, wouldn't we all!) and has done all season, proven by the way he's played most of the season. what do the club do? pay him to play 2010 like cr@p and then let him go on a freebie or cash in now and pretty much start the offseason with a blank canvass as far as the salary cap goes. Personally, if we get £500K for him and a clause in the contract that he has to come back to the Bulls if (in the very unlikely event)he returns to SL, then I'd let him go. End of the day, like Craig said, the money would be better spent on players in strike positions. We NEED a decent standoff and a supremely good winger and a dangerous centre. haitch, Lincolnshire says... Welcome to the Burgess rumours Mr Hood. We wondered where you'd been? It would be easy to say Sam is leaving a club in decline but in reality one can understand a young man wanting to try his hand at the very top and start a new life in the sun. Best of luck Sam..That just leaves Lynch as Bulls only world class player(considering Beavers age). How the mighty have fallen.
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otleybull, otley says...
7:51am Tue 29 Sep 09
I've heard rumours Fuifui is on his way, he's playing out of his skin at the moment but he's 9 years older than Sam. Still would be a good signing though