On this week’s podcast Dave Woods is joined by a legend of both the English and Australian game, Sam Burgess, who, following his retirement, is now a rugby league coach in Australia. He talks about his own upcoming Grand Final and his interest in coaching in Super League and with England. Sam reflects on the disappointment he suffered in both the 2013 and 2017 World Cups and looks ahead to England’s chances this time around. In Australia, he’s a huge star and he discusses the difficulties which have come with that and his legendary appearance on SAS: Who Dares Wins.

TIMECODES:

02:00 Sam is now coaching in Australia and has guided his team to a Grand Final in his first year.
06:30 He suggests he’d be really interested in taking up a coaching opportunity in Super League.
07:25 After a more than a decade down under, Sam hates the fact he’s now got something of an Aussie accent.
09:20 Sam talks about the challenge that England face in the World Cup, but feels they can be successful.
11:10 He reminisces about his two World Cup campaigns in 2013 and 2017.
18:00 Due to injury, retirement came early, so how has he reconciled that?
20:40 In Australia, Sam is a huge star, and he talks of the difficulties which come with that.
23:00 Sam took part in Australia’s version of SAS: Who Dares Wins and was the only contestant to escape.
27:00 However, reality TV is not something he wants take part in going forward.
31:30 Ahead of the World Cup, Sam is returning to the UK to go on a speaking tour with Jamie Peacock and Adrian Morley.
33:00 He says Morley was the trailblazer down under for him and others to follow.
36:45 He suggests the Australian public are excited about the World Cup and promos are all over TV.
39:00 Ahead of his own Grand Final he says he’s proud of his achievement over the last 12 months.