Sam Burgess reveals Salford offer before NRL return

Former England international Sam Burgess has revealed he was offered a contract by Salford when he returned to rugby league in 2015.

Burgess was returning to the game following his spell in rugby union. He had just been part of the England side knocked out of the Group Stages in the 2015 World Cup.

Salford were headed at the time by Marwan Koukash, who had already overseen a transformation of the club. They had re-branded from Salford City Reds to Salford Red Devils, and added heavily to the squad.

He then left the club in 2017 after four years at the helm. Koukash then gave his shares to the club’s community trust, and wrote off the debts the club owed him.

Burgess has revealed he was approached by Koukash, but said his heart was already on a return to South Sydney. He had left the Rabbitohs having won the NRL Grand Final in 2014, with victory over Canterbury.

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Burgess on rugby league return

Speaking to former Canterbury forward James Graham on his new The Bye Line Podcast, Burgess said: “There was a couple of clubs in (before he returned to the Rabbitohs). I nearly went to Salford a year.

“(Marwan) Koukash offered me a big deal- a million quid for nine months. But I said I can’t. I couldn’t come back to rugby league and not go back to Souths.

“To be fair, I’d earned a million quid in the last nine months (playing rugby union), so I would have been alright.

“I wasn’t bothered though. I had to make what was wholeheartedly the best decision for my conscience. That wasn’t it, it would have just been a money grab.

“I didn’t want to waste any more time in my career, so I just went back to what I loved.”

READ MORE: England need a Graham or Burgess to have a World Cup hope