skynews.com.au

Updated: 10:03, Friday October 30, 2009

The moment of truth has arrived for Sam Burgess - and for fans of the South Sydney Rabbitohs.

In the early hours of Sunday morning Australian time, the 191cm, 110kg giant will come of the bench for England in their Four Nations clash against Australia, and the red and myrtle faithful will finally get to see what all the hype has been about.

They'll be watching to see why Hollywood star Russell Crowe wined and dined to entice the 20-year-old to Redfern Oval, and why the club forked out half a million to get their hands on him.

And they'll hopefully see why respected judges claim he could become one of the greatest English players of all time.

'I wouldn't put that pressure on myself,' Burgess says of suggestions the lofty praise is a lot to live up to when he hits the NRL.

'I just want to go over there, knuckle down, do some hard work and play some solid footy - hopefully things will come off the back of that.

'I'm just looking forward to my time out there, get a good pre-season under my belt and get stuck into my first season.'

Before that however is a meeting with the Kangaroos.

Burgess knows the best way to endear himself to his new fanbase is to show he can mix it with the best Australia has to offer.

It's a situation not unfamiliar to English teammate Adrian Morley, who found himself looking for some respect ahead of his move to the Sydney Roosters when he went up against the green and gold pack in the 2000 World Cup.

'I wanted to have a big tournament and a big game against the Aussies,' Morley recalled.

'It didn't turn out that way. We were beaten quite convincingly.

'But I remember it was on my mind as it will be on Sam's mind.

'I think Sam will be looking for a big tournament in the fact that it's Australia and all the Australian public will be watching and he flies straight over there.

'There will be more pressure on him. Knowing Sam, it will bring out the best in him.'

Anyone wanting an appetiser of Burgess' best need only join the list of people logging onto YouTube to witness his crunching hit on New Zealand forward Fuifui Moimoi.

'Without a doubt,' said Burgess when asked if he wanted to make a statement against the Kangaroo pack.

'It'll be good to earn a little bit of respect off the Aussie players before I get out there.'

And what about the Souths faithful?

'(That) doesn't add any pressure to me. I'm just going to try and go out there and do my part for the country.

'Hopefully that's enough for the Souths fans to cheer about.'

The Australians deny they'll go out of their way to target the youngster, but with the likes of Anthony Watmough and Paul Gallen in the pack, there's little doubt bragging right will go up for grabs.

Sensing the enormity of the build-up, England coach Tony Smith has shifted Burgess out of the starting line-up and onto the bench, the move no doubt aimed at saving him from the early onslaught.

'He'll want to try and leave his mark on the game given that he's going to come down to Australia next year - try and show that he's up to NRL standard,' Australian hooker Cameron Smith said.

'But I don't think we're going to turn our attention to any single bloke - we know that they have some dangerous players in their team.'

None though are as dangerous as this tyro.

He knows he carries the hopes of not only his future fans down under, but those hoping that the English can once again be a competitive force on the world stage.

Burgess was in Australia last year on holidays when England were embarrassingly bundled out of the World Cup, and says he is desperate to do his part to help restore the country's faith in the national side.

'It was pretty tough to take, watching them lose,' Burgess said of the World Cup.

'They copped a lot of flak.

'But that's 12 months gone.

'We're at a different stage, we've got different stars, we've got a new team.

'It's about time England started to put themselves on the map.'