A tumultuous start to 2022 hasn’t gotten any easier for St George Illawarra Dragons forward George Burgess, with reports the star prop has checked into a rehabilitation facility to deal with ‘personal issues'.
“The club can acknowledge that George is on personal leave to take care of some personal matters,” Dragons chief executive Ryan Webb told the Sydney Morning Herald. The club was reluctant to offer further comment due to the sensitivity of the matter.
The 2013 Dally M and RLPA Rookie of the Year has made just four appearances for the Dragons since his return from a Super League stint with Wigan. He had previously played 149 games for South Sydney, winning a premiership with the club in 2014.
The latest development comes after Burgess was charged with sexually touching someone without consent back in March. Though the hearing isn’t set to take place until February 2023, Burgess was permitted to continue playing instead of falling under the league’s no-fault stand-down policy.
Burgess will plead not guilty to the charge, which carries a maximum five-year sentence. Though the club have offered little further comment, they advised in a release this week that Burgess’ current personal leave had nothing to do with the pending criminal matter.
Though he has been at the Dragons less than a year, it’s not the first time he’s met with trouble since his return.
In August 2021 he was charged with malicious damage following an altercation in Wollongong. In October he was given a 12-month conditional release order that required him to be ‘of good behaviour’ for the next year.
