RETURNING star Sam Burgess has an exciting message for Rabbitohs fans, claiming his time in rugby had made him a better footballer and athlete.

Burgess will return to the NRL with South Sydney next year after he left English rugby club Bath overnight with immediate effect.

The 26-year-old, who had two years left on a three-year deal with Bath, spoke of his appreciation that the club allowed him to return to the NRL.

“I want to thank everyone at England rugby and Bath for some great memories over the last 12 months,” Burgess said.

“I must also thank Bath especially for granting my release to return home to my family who I have missed more than I could have imagined.

“I am also extremely excited to be joining back up with South Sydney. I cannot wait to get back into the Rabbitohs culture, full of great people and passionate members and supporters.

“I had a wonderful time in England and learnt a lot about the game of rugby union as both a back and a forward, and I have definitely developed as an all-round player and athlete after that.”

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Sam Burgess signs 3-yr with Souths, starting 2016. Official announcement in next hr. He will actually arrive back in Sydney within days. — Dean Ritchie (@BulldogRitchie) November 5, 2015

Earlier, South Sydney CEO John Lee confirmed that the club had signed Burgess for the next three seasons. The deal has been touted as the richest per-season contract in rugby league history: A staggering $1.5 million per year.

Speaking to The Big Sports Breakfast, Lee confirmed there were still some contractual details to be finalised with the England dual international.

“There’s some work to be done to make sure we have Sam totally within the cap” Lee told 2KY.

“I spoke with Sam today and he’s thrilled to be returning to Sydney and the Rabbitohs and looking forward to a long NRL career. Sam has a presence about him that I think we lacked this year, both on and off the field.”

If it's true about @SamBurgess8 then it's a sad day for the rugby world and a great one for @SSFCRABBITOHS — Sonny Bill Williams (@SonnyBWilliams) November 5, 2015

Rabbitohs coach Michael Maguire was understandably happy to have 2014 Churchill Medallist Burgess returning to Redfern.

“I could not be happier to see Sam coming home to the Rabbitohs,” Maguire said.

“He had an enormously positive impact on our club, both on and off the field, throughout the five seasons he was here, and to be bringing back one of the game’s most dominant players is fantastic for not only our club, but the game itself.

“He will add starch to our forward pack, and he will bring his leadership qualities to the team as well.

“He wanted to test himself in rugby union and he achieved many of his goals, becoming a dual international for England and representing his country at a Rugby World Cup.

“The next chapter is for him to return to the game he was born to play, and we’re over the moon that he is coming home to do that with his Rabbitohs family here at South Sydney.”

Am I hearing @SamBurgess8 has left Bath? If so rugby union has let the lad down.. — Will Greenwood (@WillGreenwood) November 5, 2015

Burgess was a member of the England squad that recently became the first World Cup host nation to exit the tournament in the group stages, with coach Stuart Lancaster criticised for what many saw as his overly rapid promotion into the Test side.

It was only last year, after helping South Sydney win the NRL grand final, that Burgess changed codes with the express ambition of playing for England at the World Cup.

The end of his brief spell in union is likely to prove highly embarrassing for both Bath and Lancaster, whose position as England coach is currently being scrutinised as part of a Rugby Football Union review into the team’s woeful World Cup campaign.

Only last week, Bath coach Mike Ford — himself a former rugby league player — was equally adamant Burgess would stay at the Recreation Ground.

“There are no dramas here,” said Ford.

“Everyone has put two and two together, seen him sitting next to (England rugby league coach) Steve McNamara watching his brother play rugby league.”

Burgess’s selection for the England rugby union side was all the more controversial as despite Bath’s preference for playing him as a flank forward, Lancaster deployed him in the backline position of inside centre.

His inclusion meant far more experienced centre Luther Burrell missed out on a place in the England squad.

media_camera South Sydney's Sam Burgess with club owner Russell Crowe after winning the 2014 NRL Grand Final. Picture Gregg Porteous

Burgess, who only won the first of his five England caps in a World Cup warm-up in August, made three appearances during the tournament proper, but only one start, and failed to make much of an impression Veteran Ireland centre Gordon D’Arcy produced a withering critique of his displays in an Irish Times column, accusing Burgess of embarrassing his teammates and saying he “doesn’t know how to play inside centre”.

But ex-England centre Will Greenwood, a World Cup-winner in 2003, reacted to news of Burgess’s impending departure from the 15-man games by tweeting Thursday: “Am I hearing @SamBurgess8 has left Bath? If so rugby union has let the lad down.”

Last month, after leaving Burgess out of his matchday 23 for England’s final and ‘dead’ World Cup pool match against Uruguay, Lancaster said: “I’ve not had any conversations with him about a move to rugby league at all ... My last conversation with him was about him going back to Bath.”

Burgess, whose father died in 2007, is engaged to an Australian journalist.

He will join brothers George and Tom, who signed three-year contract extensions at the Rabbitohs last week.

His other brother Luke plays for Manly Warringah Sea Eagles.

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