Sam Burgess is assured of a warm welcome on his return to rugby league as speculation intensifies over his future.
The 26-year-old dual-code England player is due to report back to Bath on Monday after being given time off to consider his future following his controversial involvement in England's disappointing Rugby World Cup campaign but he seems unlikely to play for them again.
As talks continue over his release from the two years left on his contract with Bath, Burgess was a hot topic of conversation among his former England team-mates after they began their rugby league three-match Test series against New Zealand with a 26-12 win in Hull.
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“I hope he comes back to league for us, Sam’s a league player,” said Brett Ferres, England’s two-try man of the match. “He’s a fantastic player and I was lucky enough to play with him at the World Cup and Bradford before that so I hope he does.”
Burgess was an absentee from Sunday’s game but watched England’s opening autumn international against France a week earlier when he was a popular visitor to the home changing room.
Hooker James Roby said: “He’s part of England. If you’ve been involved in this set-up, you are always one of us.”
Speculation over Burgess’ future was fuelled by the appearance at the first Test of NRL head of strategy Shane Richardson, a former chief executive of South Sydney who finalised Russell Crowe’s purchase of the player from Bradford six years ago.
And Burgess’ younger brother Tom admits being made a scapegoat for England’s poor World Cup showing may persuade him to make the decision to quit the 15-man code.
“Speaking truthfully, he was probably treated a bit unfairly in my opinion and that’s probably what’s pushing him away at the moment,” Tom Burgess said.
“He’s had a week or 10 days off that (Bath coach) Mike Ford gave him to refresh him a little bit mentally and he’ll assess his options.
“He’s not made any decision as yet, at the moment he’s still with Bath.”
Burgess, Roby and Ferres all made a big impact from the bench as England drew first blood in the Test series with the world number one ranked Kiwis.
The tourists made the better start, with forwards Tohu Harris and Sam Moa scoring tries inside the first 16 minutes, but England got back to 12-12 at half-time and Ferres scored the second of his two tries on 58 minutes to put them on their way to a first win over New Zealand since 2011.
The second Test will be held at the Olympic Stadium in London on Saturday.
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A UK report on youth social media habits commissioned by advocacy group Volteface found a quarter of young people were exposed to illegal drug dealers on social media.
The poll of 2,006 people aged 16-24 assessed their exposure to drug dealers online in a nationally representative survey.
Of those admitting to seeing drugs for sale online, 56 per cent saw them advertised on Snapchat, 55 per cent on Instagram and 47 per cent on Facebook.
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The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
AGL AWARDS
Golden Ball - best Emirati player: Khalfan Mubarak (Al Jazira)
Golden Ball - best foreign player: Igor Coronado (Sharjah)
Golden Glove - best goalkeeper: Adel Al Hosani (Sharjah)
Best Coach - the leader: Abdulaziz Al Anbari (Sharjah)
Fans' Player of the Year: Driss Fetouhi (Dibba)
Golden Boy - best young player: Ali Saleh (Al Wasl)
Best Fans of the Year: Sharjah
Goal of the Year: Michael Ortega (Baniyas)
'The Batman'
Stars:Robert Pattinson
Director:Matt Reeves
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Company profile
Company name: Dharma
Date started: 2018
Founders: Charaf El Mansouri, Nisma Benani, Leah Howe
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: TravelTech
Funding stage: Pre-series A
Investors: Convivialite Ventures, BY Partners, Shorooq Partners, L& Ventures, Flat6Labs
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
Results
3pm: Maiden Dh165,000 (Dirt) 1,400m, Winner: Lancienegaboulevard, Adrie de Vries (jockey), Fawzi Nass (trainer).
3.35pm: Maiden Dh165,000 (Turf) 1,600m, Winner: Al Mukhtar Star, Adrie de Vries, Fawzi Nass.
4.10pm: Handicap Dh165,000 (D) 2,000m, Winner: Gundogdu, Xavier Ziani, Salem bin Ghadayer.
4.45pm: Handicap Dh185,000 (T) 1,200m, Winner: Speedy Move, Sean Kirrane, Satish Seemar.
5.20pm: Handicap Dh185,000 (D) 1,600m, Winner: Moqarrar, Dane O’Neill, Erwan Charpy.
5.55pm: Handicap Dh175,000 (T) 1,800m, Winner: Dolman, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar.
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
Company%20Profile
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The Saga Continues
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Thor: Ragnarok
Dir: Taika Waititi
Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Cate Blanchett, Jeff Goldblum, Mark Ruffalo, Tessa Thompson
Four stars
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