Burgess happy for sibling

Correspondent

Sam Burgess says he’ll be delighted to welcome younger brother Tom to South Sydney when he joins from Bradford next year.

The Rabbitohs announced yesterday the signing of the fourth Burgess brother one a one-year deal from next season.

“He’s the last of the brothers and I’m looking forward to having him here,” Sam told the media yesterday.

“I let him make his own decision. Obviously I really wanted him to come to Australia, I knew if would be the best for him and he was very mature in making his decision and he did a great job in how he handled himself.

“He had offers at other clubs in England but I’m happy to have him at the club.”

Aside from Tom’s signing, Burgess has opted to take the early guilty plea at the NRL judiciary for his high shot on Gold Coast forward Ashley Harrison at the weekend.

It means he will not miss any games through suspension but will take 93 carry over points into the NRL finals.

“No-one wants to miss any games especially through suspension so we felt the early guilty plea was the right thing,” said Burgess.

“Obviously it’s not ideal to have the carry over points but it’s how it is and we’ll see what happens over the next few weeks and hopefully I’m clean.”

On Friday’s challenge of Manly at Gosford, Burgess was full of respect for the Sea Eagles.

“They’ve got a cracking squad and they’re reigning premiers. They’re playing some good football and defending the title so it’s going to be a massive challenge,” he added.

“I thought they ground out a great win last week in Townsville so we’ve got a massive challenge and a lot of improving to do from our game against the Gold Coast.”