For more than a decade rugby league’s most famous family were synonymous with one club and one club alone: South Sydney Rabbitohs. But these days the story of the Burgess brothers is being told back home in England – and the latest intriguing chapter began in the slightly murkier surroundings of Huddersfield.
Sam, George, Tom and Luke made history in 2013 when they all played in the same Souths side in the National Rugby League, together, they all achieved success in Australia, albeit to varying degrees. But never before have the brothers squared off against one another, a situation Sam and Tom encountered for the first time on Super League’s opening weekend.
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Sam has long since settled back into life away from the Sydney limelight, in his second season as Warrington Wolves’ head coach. Tom will have a similar experience, albeit slightly closer to their Dewsbury roots just down the road in Huddersfield after joining the Giants on a three‑year deal following the curtain coming down on his own career with Souths last year.
But while they will enjoy a similar lifestyle away from the bright lights and scrutiny that comes with everyday life in Australia and the NRL, they will almost certainly have different experiences of Super League in 2025. For the brothers Burgess are at two clubs on very different journeys.
After a number of shock results during the opening weekend of the new season, the final game of the round went the way most expected, with Sam’s Warrington winning 20-12 against Tom’s Huddersfield despite a sterling effort from a Giants side many are tipping to be near the bottom this year. At 32, Tom is no longer the fresh-faced youngster he was when he arrived in Australia and he has a clear role at his new club.
This is a Huddersfield very much in transition, with Burgess handed a leadership role to help their young players through what may well be formative and tough times. The expectation is not trophies: it is keeping the club’s head above water. “He’ll add a bit to them and he’ll grow into his role with them,” Sam said of his brother. “He’s a big boy and he’s hard to handle.”
For older brother Sam, there is pressure of a very different kind. Having guided Warrington to a cup final and playoff semi‑final in his first season as a head coach, there is already an expectation that success for the 36-year-old this year will be defined by bringing silverware to Warrington. There is no doubt that he is a fine coach, illustrated by the progression seen at the Wolves in 2024.
Burgess also has the bright lights of Las Vegas to prepare for in a fortnight’s time when his Wolves face Wigan, and while the fact it is the opening weekend adds some validity to why the Wolves weren’t at their best here, that is also another challenge for Burgess to manage. While Sam is stateside, Tom will be playing in Huddersfield at home against Hull FC.
There was a chance for a brotherly embrace at full time on Sunday and a joke from Sam, after Tom challenged the loser of this contest to a bungee jump. “You’d best find a big bungee jump for him,” the Warrington coach said with a smile. Together they conquered the game in Australia with Souths – but now, the brothers must forge their own paths over the next eight months.
