The Rabbitohs won the 2014 NRL Premiership, the club's first in 43 years, and Burgess was named winner of the Clive Churchill Medal for man of the match in the Grand Final.

His late father, Mark Burgess, who died of motor neurone disease, was also a rugby league footballer who played for Nottingham City, Rochdale Hornets, Dewsbury and Hunslet;[10] while his mother, Julie, is a teacher, currently employed at The Scots College in Bellevue Hill, Sydney.

[14] Burgess made his Super League début against Leeds in 2006 after already being dubbed by Shontayne Hape as "Great Britain's Sonny Bill".

He gained attention for his big hit on New Zealand prop Fuifui Moimoi during the Kiwis' 2007 tour when he was only 19 years old.

[16] At the end of 2008's Super League XIII, Burgess was forced to rule himself out contention for the England 2008 World Cup squad because of injury.

[19] Burgess, in his last game in the UK before moving to the NRL, played a prominent role in the final of the 2009 Four Nations tournament, scoring two tries in England's defeat by Australia.

This suspension came at a fairly pivotal time in the season, as forwards Michael Crocker, Luke Stuart, Scott Geddes, and Dave Taylor had all been ruled out from the clash already.

His shoulder was injured in the first game of the 2011 NRL season against the Roosters on 11 March, for which he needed surgery and a month of rest.

In what was his last match for South Sydney, Burgess, along with brothers Tom and George played against the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs in the 2014 NRL Grand Final.

Despite suffering a broken cheekbone in the first tackle of the game, Burgess continued to play on, with his team winning the match.

Burgess was signed for Bath Rugby in England's top competition on a three-year contract, starting from October 2014.

[26] His start date was then delayed until December 2014 due to complicated surgery to fix a fractured cheek and eye socket.

Dawson's comments came before Lancaster named Burgess as one of four centres including Henry Slade to represent England in the World Cup.

His inclusion and performances at the World Cup were widely scrutinized, and seen by some pundits as partly to blame for England's "humiliating" early pool stage exit from the tournament—the worst result for a host nation in the tournament's history.

[30][31][32][33] On 5 November, Burgess made the decision to leave rugby union, opting to return to South Sydney Rabbitohs, signing a three-year contract.

The new contract deal coincided with Souths returning to form in The NRL with the club finishing third on the table at the end of the regular season.

It was later revealed that Burgess needed a drip inserted into his heart to fight an infection after shoulder surgery and was ruled out from playing indefinitely.

Burgess was placed on report during the match after hitting Cronulla player Matt Moylan with a high tackle.

The panel who voted were made up of Premiership-winning coaches Phil Gould, Craig Bellamy, Trent Robinson and Ricky Stuart along with Hall of Famers Peter Sterling, Darren Lockyer, Danny Buderus and Laurie Daley.

[55] On 7 August 2023, Burgess signed a two-year contract to become Warrington's new head coach ahead of the 2024 Super League season.

[61] Aviva Premiership Runner-up: 2014/15 In December 2015, Burgess married Phoebe Hooke in a lavish ceremony at her parents estate in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales.

[65] Shortly after their separation, an apprehended violence order (AVO) was taken out against Burgess on behalf of his father-in-law, Mitchell Hooke.

[66] Burgess later pleaded not guilty to charges of intimidation and common assault and claimed the allegations made by his ex-wife were "born out of malice or retaliation".

[70] On 20 October 2021, Burgess was cleared of all charges against him in relation to a year-long investigation into allegations of abuse levelled by his ex-wife.

A statement read “NSW Police Operational Legal Advice unit just recommended no criminal prosecution(s) be preferred against Sam Burgess in relation to these allegations.

[71] In October 2022, Sam went public with new girlfriend Lucy Graham when the pair attended the premiere of Russell Crowe's new movie 'Poker Face' in Rome.