Luke Burgess (rugby league)

Luke Burgess (born 20 February 1987) is an English former professional rugby league footballer who last played for the Salford Red Devils in the Super League. Luke Burgess is the brother of fellow rugby league players Sam, George and Tom Burgess. He previously played in the NRL for the South Sydney Rabbitohs and the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles.

For the Australian rugby union player of the same name, see Luke Burgess (rugby union).

Luke Burgess
Personal information
Born (1987-02-20) 20 February 1987
Liversedge, West Yorkshire, England
Playing information
Height194 cm (6 ft 4 in)
Weight112 kg (17 st 9 lb)
PositionProp
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2007–10 Leeds Rhinos 81 6 0 0 24
2007(loan) → Doncaster 9 1 0 0 4
2007(loan) → Harlequins RL 3 0 0 0 0
2011–14 South Sydney 51 2 0 0 8
2015–16 Manly Sea Eagles 19 0 0 0 0
2016 Salford Red Devils 8 0 0 0 0
2017 Catalans Dragons 5 0 0 0 0
2018 Salford Red Devils 15 0 1 0 2
Total 191 9 1 0 38
Source: [1][2]

Background

Burgess was born on 20 February 1987 in Liversedge, Kirklees, West Yorkshire, England.

His late father, Mark Burgess who died of Motor neurone disease, was also a rugby league footballer who played for Nottingham City, Rochdale Hornets, Dewsbury and Hunslet;[3] whilst his mother Julie is a teacher, currently employed at The Scots College in Bellevue Hill, Sydney.[4] His younger brothers Sam, Tom and George play professional rugby league with the South Sydney Rabbitohs, while Sam previously played rugby union for Bath Rugby.

He attended Heckmondwike Grammar School to receive a secondary education before becoming a professional rugby league footballer. He played his junior rugby for Dewsbury Moor, and also played for Liversedge Cricket Club.

Professional playing career
Luke Burgess with the Super League trophy in 2009.

Super League

Burgess played prop for the Leeds Rhinos having previously been on loan to Harlequins RL and Doncaster. He made his first appearance for Leeds in defeat at Castleford Tigers in March 2008.

Burgess' début game was against Castleford Tigers at Wheldon Road, Leeds lost this game. Burgess scored his first try on his second game against Harlequins RL. At the end of the 2008 season, Burgess became the inaugural winner of the Albert Goldthorpe Rookie of the Year Award, presented by the leading trade newspaper, Rugby Leaguer & League Express.[5]

In 2009, Burgess played in 28 games, however, he only scored one try for the club against Salford City Reds, compared to five tries from only five appearances in 2008.

He played in the 2009 Super League Grand Final victory over St. Helens at Old Trafford.[6]

On 21 June 2011 it was confirmed that Luke had signed for the South Sydney Rabbitohs, joining brothers Sam and George at the club who play in the Australian NRL Brother Tom Burgess came later.[7]

National Rugby League

During the 2011 NRL season Burgess was named to make his NRL début for Souths having been in Australia for less than two weeks.[8]

In May 2013, model Yolanda Hodgson who had been a contestant on Australia's Next Top Model in 2011, gave birth to the couple's first child, daughter Grace Luca.[9] In August 2013, the Burgess brothers became the first set of four brothers to line up in the same Australian side since Ray, Roy, Rex and Bernard Norman played for Sydney's Annandale club in the 1910 NSWRFL season.[10]

In 2015, he joined the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles, after being granted an early leave by the South Sydney Rabbitohs, after an incident at a club after the Rabbitohs' high-altitude training camp in Arizona, United States. It was alleged that a doorman working at an Arizona bar had told Burgess and South Sydney captain John Sutton to leave as they were intoxicated. Sutton allegedly became restless and Burgess got into a fight with the bouncer. Images were released of the pair handcuffed. The bouncer eventually dropped all charges after reaching an agreement with the two players.[11]

References
  1. "Players". LoveRugbyLeague.com. Retrieved 2 July 2022.
  2. "Luke Burgess - Career Stats & Summary - Rugby League Project". Rugbyleagueproject.org. Retrieved 2 July 2022.
  3. Irvine, Christopher (26 October 2007). "Sam Burgess inspired by memory of late father". The Times Online. Retrieved 17 September 2009.
  4. "Meet the magnificent MRS Burgess | dailytelegraph.com.au". Archived from the original on 11 April 2016. Retrieved 3 October 2013.
  5. "The Albert Goldthorpe Awards". totalrl.com. League Publications. Archived from the original on 26 March 2014. Retrieved 16 February 2014.
  6. Fletcher, Paul (10 October 2009). "St Helens 10-18 Leeds Rhinos". BBC Sport. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
  7. "Family affair at Rabbitohs". Sky Sports. 21 June 2011.
  8. Nicolussi, Christian (29 June 2011). "Luke Burgess named to make NRL début with South Sydney". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 19 October 2013.
  9. "NRL's Luke Burgess and model Yolanda Hodgson welcome baby Grace to the world". The Daily Telegraph. 8 May 2013.
  10. "Rugby league history as FOUR English brothers star for Russell Crowe's side". The Daily Mirror. 30 August 2013. Retrieved 19 October 2013.
  11. "The 66 scandals in four years that have rocked the NRL". Fox Sports. 8 February 2019.
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