The circumstances could hardly be any more different from the last time Sam Burgess was preparing for a major rugby league final. In 2014, there was the glitz and glamour of Sydney’s NRL bubble as he readied himself for a Grand Final performance for South Sydney that would be etched into rugby league folklore.
A decade later, Burgess is in an abandoned university complex on the outskirts of Warrington, which doubles as the Wolves’ training centre, contemplating how his Wembley journey has come full circle. Twenty-five years on from a visit as a child that lit a fire inside him, Burgess will achieve his childhood dream of featuring in a Challenge Cup final on Saturday.
Granted, it will not be as a player, but Burgess has immense pride in the honour of leading Warrington out as the head coach at the stadium he and his family attended in 1999 to watch Leeds Rhinos’ triumph over London Broncos. “I remember getting to Wembley and recognising just the enormity of the place,” he says.
“I just remember sitting there thinking, I want to play here one day in a final. I just wanted it so badly. You regret the stuff you were never able to do and when it dawned on me that I’d never get the chance to do that, the next best thing after playing there in a final is to coach there and be part of it that way.”
Burgess’s Wembley story does include a solitary appearance as a player: a day that will simultaneously rank as one of the best and worst of his career, England’s heartbreaking defeat in the semi-finals of the 2013 Rugby League World Cup. “Although it was one of the most disappointing results of my life, it was probably one of the most enjoyable games in my career,” he says.
“I finally got to play at Wembley and I was doing it for England. I played well, we came up short … but I haven’t been back since. I’ve had no reason to.”
Life could not be much more different than it was a few years ago. A sudden and swift end to his playing career at the age of 30 due to a chronic shoulder injury was followed by a number of off-field incidents. “Every bit of life experience just steels me,” he says. “The ability to self-reflect and take responsibility, that’s something I’ve always managed to do – though it does take me longer than others.
“But I’m able to relate to my players because I come from zero judgment – that’s all I can do given what’s happened in my life. I don’t pull any punches with them.”
Life is certainly quieter here than in the Sydney media storm. Does he prefer that? “Yes,” he says, smiling. “It’s a bit of me, this way of life. I don’t know if I needed to escape it [the media attention in Australia] but I’ve enjoyed not being in it. It’s been well documented that the last four years have been challenging personally.
“It’s been nice to come here and be yourself, live life normally and be a normal family doing normal things. Yesterday, I was in the middle of Manchester playing games with my family, just blending in – brilliant. You just always felt watched in Sydney, it was very edgy. So I’m loving being back here in that respect.”
With his partner and baby, Burgess and his young family have settled back into life in England to such an extent that he would not rule out staying beyond his initial two-year deal. He has already rejected two offers to return to the NRL.
But it has undoubtedly been made easier by his start to life as a coach. Burgess has Warrington competing on all fronts and victory against Wigan would secure a major trophy in his first year as a head coach.
“It’s our first shot at silverware and I’m aware it’s been a few years for this club. But any victory with a trophy at the end of it is a proud moment. We’re aware of the challenge but there’s no doubting it would rank as a pretty special moment given how this club and town has gotten under my skin a bit.”
