Daily Mail Australia columnist Amanda Goff wrote this week that Sam Burgess’s second marriage and new family life have prompted conversation among women who follow the high-profile rugby league figure.
Goff, who said she has long been "Team Sam" in what she termed the "War of the Burgesses," described Burgess as a "cheeky Yorkshireman," a former rugby league great and "salt of the earth." While praising aspects of his new relationship, she added that "there's something about your happy ending that doesn't sit well with me," and wrote that "women are starting to talk." Goff also referenced the former couple's divorce settlement, writing that Burgess parted with 70 percent of the marital wealth.
Goff recounted a chance encounter in Bondi in which she said she bumped into Burgess and his current wife, Lucy, shortly before the couple relocated to Cheshire in northwest England. According to the column, Lucy, a former hairdresser from Leeds, was pregnant at the time; the couple now have a daughter, Robbie, who is two. Goff wrote that the pair appeared "giddy with excitement" about starting a new life together in England.
The columnist noted that Burgess's eldest children live in Australia with their mother, Phoebe Burgess, and that the contrast between his new life in England and his children's lives in Australia has been difficult to watch, in her estimation. The image of Burgess and Phoebe together in Sydney in 2018 is widely circulated in coverage of the family.
Sam Burgess is a former professional rugby league player whose personal life has attracted sustained media attention following a public separation and divorce. Goff's column revisits those developments while reflecting on the reception of his remarriage among some observers.
The piece is part of ongoing commentary in Australian and British outlets about celebrity relationships, post-divorce arrangements and the private lives of well-known athletes. Goff framed her observations as coming from a sympathetic position toward Burgess while nevertheless raising questions about how his new family life is perceived by women who followed the earlier, high-profile breakup.
Goff's column ran in the Daily Mail Australia; it adds to the media's continuing coverage of the Burgess family. The story remains one of public interest in sports and celebrity culture, with commentators and readers responding to developments as the family’s post-divorce arrangements and cross-continental living situation continue to be reported.