Sam Burgess coaches Russell Crowe’s favourite bush footy team to a huge win – and now a clash with his former Souths teammate Greg Inglis looms
- Sam Burgess took charge of Orara Valley Axemen in his coaching debut
- Axemen thrashed Sawtell 58-4 in their first game of the season on Sunday
- Greg Inglis played 20 minutes in Macksville’s 42-6 win over Nambucca Heads
- Burgess and Inglis’ teams are scheduled to meet on May 29 in group two game
- The duo spent six seasons together at the Rabbitohs, winning one premiership
Sam Burgess celebrated his coaching debut with a resounding win and a clash with former teammate Greg Inglis now looms large on the horizon.
The ex-Rabbitohs star made his coaching debut on Sunday, leading the Orara Valley Axemen to a thumping 58-4 victory against Sawtell in a group two game on the NSW north coast.
Burgess made the surprise switch to coaching earlier this month, when he was appointed in charge of the Axemen – Bunnies co-owner Russell Crowe’s favourite bush footy side – and their first league game in two years couldn’t have gone any better.
Sam Burgess (left) led the Orara Valley Axemen to a 58-4 win in his coaching debut on Sunday
‘We won pretty convincingly – it was good. It was a relief,’ Burgess told NewsCorp after the game.
‘I was pretty calm. I didn’t really know how the game was going to go because we are a new team but the guys had trained well.
‘I was really happy with our spirit – the Valley is back, which is nice. It’s a really good start. It’s nice we could actually start playing.’
Burgess was appointed coach of the Orara Valley Axemen earlier this month
Souths owner Russell Crowe – pictured celebrating the team’s 2014 grand final win with Burgess – has strong ties to the Axemen and helped steer the Englishman into the job
Burgess’ appointment came just two years after Crowe helped save the Axemen when they were forced to withdraw from their local competition in 2020. Saturday’s game, meanwhile, marked Satwell’s return to the competition after a three-year hiatus and Burgess noted rugby league was the real winner on the day.
‘I’ll tell you what I was happy with, it was a full house in Sawtell, it was their home game and they had a lot of supporters there,’ the 2014 Clive Churchill medallist added.
‘We had a lot of fans there too which was great. There were a lot of kids at the game, it was just a great atmosphere.’
Burgess and Greg Inglis won the 2014 premiership with the Rabbitohs and could now face each other in a group two game, with the latter playing for hometown side Macksville
Inglis, who won the 2014 premiership alongside Burgess at Souths, also enjoyed a winning start to the season playing 20 minutes in Macksville’s 42-6 thrashing over Nambucca Heads in a group two game.
The former Queensland and Australia, 35, star signed for his hometown team back in October last year after a severe hamstring injury forced him to mutually terminate his playing contract with Warrington just three days into his Super League spell.
Burgess and Inglis are now set to cross path on May 29 in what should be a fascinating clash.