There are two types of British Rugby League players.
The first type are the ones that like to play make believe that they are something they are not. They talk a good game, but at the end of the day their goal is to be the most famous person in their local pub.
Now, that is pretty easy to to. You simply get yourself to one of the clubs in Super League that can spend the most money, and from there you are pretty much set. You’ll win trophies. You’ll have fans cheering for you. You don’t have to push yourself all that hard. Its a lifestyle choice, and its one you have every right to make.
The second type of Britsh Rugby League player is driven by something much deeper. Its a desire to compete against the best players in the world. They don’t want to talk about it, they just want to go out and do it! They’ll take less money if thats what it takes. They are willing to move to the other side of the world and start from the bottom of the pile. Club captancy, national captaincy….they’ll hand it all over just for a chance to prove themselves.
Which type of British Rugby League player do you want to be Sam?
The time is right for you to make the move. I know you have a contract with Wigan, but we all know that you will be able to work something out with them to get out of that deal. NRL clubs won’t pay a transfer fee for you because that transfer fee would count towards their salary cap figure. It just isn’t worth the hassel to NRL clubs. You’ll have to sort that out yourself.
NRL clubs have the money Sam. Whether you get paid as much as you’re earning right now is up to the teams you negotiate with. If a team gets desperate, you might find yourself earning a fairly decent amount of money. If you are as good as you’ve said you are in the past, you could find yourself with a $1 million a season contract in a year or two.
The only way you will know if you are one of THOSE players is if you make the decision to play in the worlds biggest and best rugby competition.
The lifestyle here is good. You might like Wigan, but compared to Sydney or Brisbane, its a shit hole. I’m just being honest with you Sam. This is your chance to go from being a well known local to being a sporting superstar.
There’s a reason Sam Burgess loves it here. There is a reason all of his brothers followed him over. Even James Graham is enjoying himself, an you know what he’s like! Gareth Widdop is playing in the best team in the world every single week, and I know while you wouldn’t say it publicly, you think you’re a far better player than he will ever be.
Are you going to prove it though?
See, I don’t think you will make the move to play in the NRL. I think it is out of your comfort zone.
Remember when Lee Smith headed south to play Rugby Union and he only lasted a matter of weeks because he was out of his comfort zone? Granted his comfort zone ended up extending no further than the borders of Yorkshire, but I think what you really want is to slip into an easy lifestype and not really test your ability. I don’t think you have that drive within you to want the real challenge of playing in the worlds best competition. I think you want to be the golden boy. Whether that is at Wigan or Bath, it doesn’t really matter. You and I both know that you will walk into the England Rugby Union Sevens side. That means the Olympics. That means national exposure.
You should walk into the England Rugby Union test side too. Wingers don’t get blamed for losses in Rugby Union, so the idea of zero accountability while recieving national exposure must apeal to you.
Is that what you really want though? To get cold while you watch a bunch of fat guys rolling around in the mud knowing that you once stretched out as a ball runner and carved up defences in Super League? Do you really want to be just an addition to an under performing side and hoping that you see the ball two or three times a game?
Maybe you do…I don’t really know.
There are plenty of players that don’t have the drive to test themselves against the best. I’m sure you will recieve advice from a number of former players that will tell you they were completely fine with not having played Rugby League in Australia. The desire just wasn’t there for those players.
I think you’re one of those players Sam. I really don’t think you have any true desire to play in the NRL. I think you like the idea of it, you like the attention and interest you get when you talk about playing in the NRL, but I also tend to think you have probably already signed a deal to play Rugby Union and you are just waiting for the right time to set the wheels in motion to make that easy switch.
That is fine, it is your life and you should do what makes you happy. Be comfortable, make the decision that makes you happy.
It takes something different to move to the other side of the world and face up to the worlds best rugby players week in week out. Its not for everyone.
Hi, I object to the use of the words ‘shit hole’ when referring to Wigan!
We may not be the most glamorous place on the planet but we have a majority of hard working friendly people.
Every town, city has its bad spots, no doubt your place of birth has quite a few & is not much different to any where else!
If you come from RL and play U on the wing you get blamed for it, see Chris Ashton.
Playing in the NRL is still only makes him a sporting superstar in Australia. The worlds best competition being on the wrong side of the world for anyone else to notice.
I don’t know how much he could earn in Union but it would be in the region of £300,000 -£500,000 p/a easily enough not to want to move to a country that is 99% desert.
And being wealthy in GB offers you so much more than sun and a beach which is basically the main reason to go 12,000 miles from home.
You so realize that Australia has more rain forest, and corral reef, and sandy beaches, and pretty much every single other environment you could think of than the entire size of the landmass of Great Britain, right?
And you do understand that Australia is one of the few countries in the world that has a booming economy….right?
I’m not dealing with completely ignorance am I? Surely not!
33% environmental desert, 66% cultural desert. The numbers tally.
Doesn’t matter if Australia is a booming economy as your only expression of wealth is moving up from nylon flip flops to leather ones.
You understand that Australia is the only Westernised country in the world where you have to check under the bog seat for poisonous spiders.
Its better than shitting in a bucket because the pipes are frozen in March.
Oh come now, we all know a bucket full of Englishman’s poo is legal tender in the colonies. You could exchange it for a new canoe, some coloured beads or a great invention we call the mirror. It is a useful tool in assessing whether or not Australians are self aware and it’s very shiny.
You really have no idea how well we are doing down here in paradise do you? You should save some money over the next decade and check it out. We are all living like kings!
Oh please! I’d only have to turn up with a suitcase full of metal tools, blankets and a couple of rifles and I could bargain my way to being overlord of the entire continent within 6 months.