Mark Smith on Rugby League Recruits

Rugby league is once again a fashionable recruitment ground for the 15-man game, Sam Burgess and Lee Smith the latest two to cross the divide.

Burgess’ imminent move to Bath and Smith’s immediate switch to Newcastle Falcons may have differing back-stories behind them, but both reflect a desire on union’s part to find an ingredient they cannot unearth through their own regular academy programmes.

In Smith’s case the Falcons have acted to add a try-scoring threat to a side which has only crossed the whitewash an average of once every two games during their 14 Premiership outings this season.

Working in his favour is the fact the 27-year-old has plenty of childhood experience in rugby union, even if his half-season stint at London Wasps ended without a single Premiership appearance.

Now five years older and wiser to the challenges of a cross-code switch, his intended role as an outside back demands far less of a transition phase than the more nuanced variety of infield positions.

Wing and full-back remain by far the most similar postings when it comes to comparing rugby’s two variants; Jason Robinson, Lote Tuqiri and Wendell Sailor among the genuine ‘leaguies’ to have successfully made the move.

Burgess’ case is far more intriguing, simply because it comes with so much uncertainty.

The bun-fight over whether or not the RFU are footing the transfer fee has finally been resolved with Bath’s owner picking up the tab, but England head coach Stuart Lancaster is already talking enthusiastically about his red-rose credentials despite having not yet set foot on a rugby union playing field.

Indeed, it will be October before Burgess’ commitments with South Sydney Rabbitohs are at an end, leaving less than a year to achieve his stated aim of playing in England’s 2015 home World Cup.

Depending who you speak to he is either being groomed as an inside centre or a back row forward, positions which, despite their physical similarities, demand vastly differing skill-sets and outlooks.

Sonny Bill Williams has spectacularly proven for New Zealand that a genuine cross-code conversion is possible, but this once-in-a-lifetime freak of nature is hardly a model which can be manufactured with a set of flat-pack instructions and an electric screw-driver.

Also an undefeated professional boxer in his spare time, the World Cup-winning All Black is currently back in rugby league but has already signalled his intention for a union return.

Burgess’ billing as the ‘English Sonny Bill’ leaves no shortage of expectation on the shoulders of an admittedly-outstanding rugby league talent, and his desire to cross the divide must leave searching questions for the 13-man code.

In Newcastle’s case the equation seems simpler, Smith adding a dose of mongrel and the unexpected to a back line which has too often just gone through the motions.

Their two genuine game-breakers, Joel Hodgson and Zach Kibirige, have rarely been trusted on the Premiership stage, and that could prove his biggest barrier.

Mark Smith on Rugby League Recruits