Luke Burgess retires after helping Salford secure Super League status
Friday 28 September 2018 07:31, UK
Former Leeds and South Sydney forward Luke Burgess has announced his retirement at the age of 31 after battling a series of knee injuries.
The oldest of the four Burgess brothers, Luke hung up his boots after helping Salford survive in Super League, courtesy of a 44-10 win over Toulouse in the final round of the Super 8s Qualifiers at the AJ Bell Stadium on Thursday night.
It was only the 15th appearance of his second spell with the Red Devils and he admits that injuries have finally taken their toll.
"When I was younger I saw players that probably tried to play a bit longer than they could, even tried to play through injuries, and didn't do themselves justice towards the end of their careers," Burgess said.
"I made a promise to myself that I would never do that, that I would always listen to my body. I'd know when the time was right to call it a day.
"Mentally my head is still in the game but my body won't let me do what I used to be able to do.
"I've had two serious injuries to the same knee, a shoulder reconstruction, a jaw reconstruction, an ankle reconstruction, the list goes on.
"But I'm really happy with the career that I've had. I want to have a good quality of life moving forward and I'm happy to get out and finish at the top."
Burgess began his career with Leeds in 2007 and, after making his Super League debut while on loan with Harlequins, he went on to play 80 times for the Rhinos and was a member of the team that successfully defended their Super League crown at Old Trafford in 2009.
"I learned a lot of things coming through such a great system and having great senior players and leaders around me," he said of a Leeds career that came to a sudden halt in the middle of 2011 when he was given permission to join younger brothers Sam and George at South Sydney.
Tom soon followed and In August 2013 the Burgess siblings became the first set of four brothers to line up in the same Australian side for 103 years.
"For four English lads who all grew up in the north of England to go over and play in a competition as big as the NRL was incredible," Luke said.
"The timing was perfect. We had a great set of lads around us, it was a special time.
"I'm very close to my brothers and to be able to play in the same team as them was out of this world."
The fairytale continued when the Burgess clan helped the Rabbitohs end their trophy drought with victory in the 2014 Grand Final before Luke left a year later and joined Manly.
Burgess, who made the England training squad under Steve McNamara in 2012 without getting the chance to pull on the shirt, had a brief spell with Salford towards the end of 2016 and spent last season with Catalans Dragons before rejoining the Red Devils in the winter.
He now says it is time to enter the real world and that will be in Australia, which has become the permanent home for the growing Burgess family.
"All my family are in Australia and my daughter is Australian too," he said.
"I've not got anything set in stone just yet but I'm pretty excited about the next chapter. It's a new world for me.
"Rugby league has given me a great start to life and I'm thoroughly grateful for that.
"I've still got three brothers who play so I'll definitely still be involved in the game - whether that's as a spectator or a club employee, who knows?"
