After making it through his first trial match unscathed, star St George Illawarra Dragons recruit George Burgess is poised to make history as the first NRL player to bounce back from a rare surgical procedure and return to playing first grade.
Burgess pulled up “sweet” after the Dragons’ 26-22 win over the Parramatta Eels on Sunday, and now he’s setting his sights on the club where he became a household name: the South Sydney Rabbitohs.
Burgess’ road back to the NRL has been a long and bumpy one – he left Souths in 2019 to play back home in England,xjmtzyw where he was dogged by recurrent hip injuries.
Last year, he made the huge decision to go under the knife for hip resurfacing surgery in a bid to shake off the pain once and for all.
Burgess, 29, finally returned to the field on Sunday afternoon in the Dragons’ trial game at CommBank Stadium after spending months working hard to return to peak physical condition.
Burgess said it was a relief to finally be back in action.
“For once I was going into a game fit and ready to go, so I was pretty confident,” he said.
“It felt good to get out there with the boys, with the new team. First game in a long time, so it was just nice to get that on the board.”
Playing reduced minutes, Burgess said he pulled up fine.
“That was the most pleasing thing,” he said.
“Full contact off the kick off and I didn‘t feel any pain in my hip. I felt strong and felt good and it’s pulled up sweet. Really happy with it.
“Now I’m excited now to move on to next week and get another game.”
That game, in Mudgee, will be against the club with whom Burgess won the 2014 premiership. He’ll also go head-to-head with his twin brother Thomas for the first time in an NRL fixture.
“I won’t be avoiding him. I’ll be looking for him,” Burgess said with a laugh.
Burgess said he wasn’t overawed by the prospect of facing the club that gave him his first chance in the NRL.
“It’s just another game, another step in the preparation for the season. I’ll be taking it pretty seriously,” he said.
“I’m looking forward to the week now and getting to Mudgee and getting to play against my old team.”
Burgess isn’t the only big-name forward who’s arrived at the Dragons in 2022 – the club has replenished its pack with Francis Molo, Jaydn Su’A, Aaron Woods and Jack Gosiewski, all of whom will rate themselves chances to lock down regular spots in the 17.
Burgess said he looked forward to the internal competition.
“You need that in an NRL squad,” he said.
“There are going to be a lot of good players that might miss out, so you’ve just got to keep pushing forward in training and do your best to get a spot.”
