St George Illawarra Dragons head coach Anthony Griffin has opened up about George Burgess’s astonishing recovery from hip surgery just days after the forward pleaded guilty to smashing a phone in a roadside altercation.
Burgess had told the court that he was provoked by the man filming him as the former Wigan prop searched for a pharmacy.
Burgess, 29, had hip surgery earlier this year and the court was told he had been suffering from debilitating pain at the time of the incident.
The Englishman joined Wigan on a marquee contract ahead of the 2020 Super League season, but managed just eight games as the pain became unbearable as he almost couldn’t run.
He and the Warriors amicably parted ways, with Burgess heading under the knife to repair his long-standing issue.
It’s now been revealed just what the man mountain has been through to even get to the point of playing again – a point which made it almost impossible to take to the field.
“That is what he said,” Griffin said.
“Peter Gentle (St George’s assistant coach) worked with him at Souths the last year he was there (in 2019) and he said he just used to ride a bike or do yoga or something in the gym all week. Then they would wheel him out for captain’s run and then play him. He said that’s all he could do.
“And when I first spoke to him when he was in England he said his biggest motivation was to do an off-season.
“He said, ‘I just want to train like everyone else trains’.
“That is what he was looking forward to the most, because he hadn’t been able to do it for five or six seasons.”
