Legendary forward and current Warrington Wolves coach Sam Burgess might have spent time as a player and assistant coach at the South Sydney Rabbitohs, but he won't be re-joining the club for a second stint anytime soon.
It comes with the Wolves announcing this week that Burgess has agreed to a contract extension until at least the end of the 2026 season.
The rookie head coach who took over the clipboard at the club this year has the Wolves firing on all cylinders at the top of the English Super League table, but has had almost constant speculation that he would head back to South Sydney next season to learn from Wayne Bennett before taking over as head coach in a couple of years.
The 35-year-old has squashed any chance of that happening though by re-signing, and said two years in charge wasn't going to be enough to achieve what he wanted.
โIt's great to extend my time at the club," Burgess said in a club statement confirming his decision.
โI love the town and the community and both me and my family are really enjoying our time here. The support from the board has been fantastic and the fans have been brilliant with me.
โWe're heading in the right direction and I felt two years wasn't enough and a third gives us more scope to plan with what we're building here.โ
It means South Sydney could well now look to current interim coach Ben Hornby as the man to take over when Wayne Bennett eventually moves on, with the current interim club to be Bennett's right-hand man during his time at the club.
Hornby played under Bennett in the St George Illawarra Dragons' 2010 premiership campaign.
Burgess, meanwhile, will continue the pursuit of Super League titles for at least the next two seasons, and Wolves' CEO Karl Fitzpatrick said the club were 'delighted' with the contract extension.
โWe are delighted to have secured Sam for a further 12 months," Fitzpatrick said.
โAt a fans event at the beginning of the season, having seen in the preseason how Sam operated, I promised our supporters that we would have a team this town and community can be proud of. It's fair to say he has absolutely delivered on that.
โI think we've got the best and most sought after young coach in the game. The foundations he and his team are laying will hopefully set us up for something special for a long time.โ
