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AS questions are being asked about Sam Burgess's contract with South Sydney, Wests Tigers officials have revealed how their approach to the England international was blown out of the water by his exorbitant asking price.
The Tigers meet the Rabbitohs today at the SCG in a showpiece Heritage-Round fixture. And they will come up against Burgess, whom they gave a tour of the club's Concord set-up during the 2008 World Cup.
Gareth Ellis had talked up Burgess, which prompted coach Tim Sheens and recruitment officer Warren McDonnell to meet with the young star.
McDonnell said the Tigers never even got to tabling an offer because of Burgess's whopping price tag.
Had Burgess been offered up for $262,000 a season - his reported average salary over his four-year term with Souths - McDonnell would have "signed him in a heartbeat".
"He wasn't the one that got away because we couldn't afford him," McDonnell said.
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Related Coverage
* Burgess faces a battle of Britain Daily Telegraph, 4 days ago
* Superheroic bid for World Cup Daily Telegraph, 9 Apr 2010
* McDonnell to play with broken thumb Fox Sports, 8 Apr 2010
* Team-man Burgess plays down the hype The Australian, 6 Apr 2010
* NRL teams for round three Daily Telegraph, 23 Mar 2010
End of sidebar. Return to start of sidebar.
"Sam came down with two others, including Chris Feather and a young halfback whose name I can't remember, and Tim and I showed them around the gym.
"We were interested in him, but after speaking with his management we knew we weren't even going to get close. Bradford wanted plenty, they were talking some pie-in-the-sky figure like $400,000 just to release him from his contract. Then his manager was asking for plenty, something like $400,000-plus."
Even the high-flying Roosters were put off by the asking price for Burgess.
According to club sources, Bradford chairman Peter Hood boasted the near $400,00 release fee wouldn't be lowered because "it would be a record for us".
Roosters recruitment officer Peter O'Sullivan said: "We would've loved to have signed him, but the transfer fee that they (Roosters) had to pay to Bradford and all that sort of stuff, it just made it unviable financially."
Penrith were also rumoured to be in the hunt for Burgess, but chief executive Mick Leary denied making any inquiries.
Souths won the race for Burgess, who was wooed by Hollywood heavyweight and Souths owner Russell Crowe during his time filming Robin Hood.
Rabbitohs supremo Shane Richardson denied any knowledge of a $400,000 asking price and said "Sam's very happy with his deal and the club is very happy".
"We signed Sam Burgess before he played in the Four Nations last year, just as we signed Dave Taylor when he was in reserve grade, so I would like to think we were smart getting these players early," Richardson said.
"If there's talk of $400,000 (asking price) I don't know about it. He's happy with his deal, we're happy and Russell had a big influence (in signing him)."
Documents lodged with the immigration department outlined the finer details of Burgess's deal, but Richardson said those figures published this week were wrong and the actual contract was lodged with the NRL in February. Under NRL rules, the money paid to Bradford does not count towards Souths' salary cap.
Rivalry between Souths and the Tigers continued to bubble during the week. Tigers officials made it clear to the SCG Trust that the Rabbitohs were not to have access to the ground for a final training run.
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/spo...-1225867194896
The Tigers meet the Rabbitohs today at the SCG in a showpiece Heritage-Round fixture. And they will come up against Burgess, whom they gave a tour of the club's Concord set-up during the 2008 World Cup.
Gareth Ellis had talked up Burgess, which prompted coach Tim Sheens and recruitment officer Warren McDonnell to meet with the young star.
McDonnell said the Tigers never even got to tabling an offer because of Burgess's whopping price tag.
Had Burgess been offered up for $262,000 a season - his reported average salary over his four-year term with Souths - McDonnell would have "signed him in a heartbeat".
"He wasn't the one that got away because we couldn't afford him," McDonnell said.
Start of sidebar. Skip to end of sidebar.
Related Coverage
* Burgess faces a battle of Britain Daily Telegraph, 4 days ago
* Superheroic bid for World Cup Daily Telegraph, 9 Apr 2010
* McDonnell to play with broken thumb Fox Sports, 8 Apr 2010
* Team-man Burgess plays down the hype The Australian, 6 Apr 2010
* NRL teams for round three Daily Telegraph, 23 Mar 2010
End of sidebar. Return to start of sidebar.
"Sam came down with two others, including Chris Feather and a young halfback whose name I can't remember, and Tim and I showed them around the gym.
"We were interested in him, but after speaking with his management we knew we weren't even going to get close. Bradford wanted plenty, they were talking some pie-in-the-sky figure like $400,000 just to release him from his contract. Then his manager was asking for plenty, something like $400,000-plus."
Even the high-flying Roosters were put off by the asking price for Burgess.
According to club sources, Bradford chairman Peter Hood boasted the near $400,00 release fee wouldn't be lowered because "it would be a record for us".
Roosters recruitment officer Peter O'Sullivan said: "We would've loved to have signed him, but the transfer fee that they (Roosters) had to pay to Bradford and all that sort of stuff, it just made it unviable financially."
Penrith were also rumoured to be in the hunt for Burgess, but chief executive Mick Leary denied making any inquiries.
Souths won the race for Burgess, who was wooed by Hollywood heavyweight and Souths owner Russell Crowe during his time filming Robin Hood.
Rabbitohs supremo Shane Richardson denied any knowledge of a $400,000 asking price and said "Sam's very happy with his deal and the club is very happy".
"We signed Sam Burgess before he played in the Four Nations last year, just as we signed Dave Taylor when he was in reserve grade, so I would like to think we were smart getting these players early," Richardson said.
"If there's talk of $400,000 (asking price) I don't know about it. He's happy with his deal, we're happy and Russell had a big influence (in signing him)."
Documents lodged with the immigration department outlined the finer details of Burgess's deal, but Richardson said those figures published this week were wrong and the actual contract was lodged with the NRL in February. Under NRL rules, the money paid to Bradford does not count towards Souths' salary cap.
Rivalry between Souths and the Tigers continued to bubble during the week. Tigers officials made it clear to the SCG Trust that the Rabbitohs were not to have access to the ground for a final training run.
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/spo...-1225867194896
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