Luther Burrell believes his switch to rugby league could pave the way for further union players to follow in his footsteps and has had conversations with Danny Care and Danny Cipriani about their desire to try their hand at the 13-man code at some stage.
Burrell, who is joining Warrington after leaving Northampton, is the first union player since the former Wales flanker Andy Powell in 2013 to switch to league without any experience of playing the game professionally, albeit he did play league as a junior in Huddersfield. The former England centre, who has signed a deal until the end of the 2021 season, said if his move between codes is a success, there would be no reason why other high-profile players would not join him in heading to league.
“If I can make this a positive move and make it look fun, then 100% other people will want to do it,” the 31-year-old, who played 15 times for England, said. “I’m serious when I say I’ve been inundated with messages from high-profile players wanting to know what it’s like. Union teams are constantly trying to evolve and a lot of the lads in the sport follow rugby league closely.”
Any player switching to league and signing for a Super League club would benefit from salary-cap exemptions introduced two years ago, making it easier for top league sides to sign converts without their wages counting on the cap, which stands at £2m. Burrell’s Warrington salary will be exempted from their cap.
Burrell, who will be eligible to play starting next month, talked about his conversations with two other England union internationals. He said jokily: “Danny Care was asking the other day if we needed any half-backs. He’s got 80-plus caps for England but I think he’d make a great half-back in league. Danny Cipriani asked me if I thought he’d be any good in the game and I said he would.
“He’s re-signed with Gloucester now but when he heard about me signing at Warrington, he reached out and said he’d love to try his hand at it. But even for the younger lads coming through, I couldn’t advise coming to league enough. You’ll return a better player. There’s a stigma surrounding league that the union players don’t like it, but they really do. A lot of the top teams have their structures built on what teams in league do. The gap isn’t that big.”
Burrell admitted that to be a success in league he will have to be fitter than at any point during his union career and insisted he harbours ambitions to play league for England once he finds his feet.
“I can’t lie and say I’ve not thought about it – and it’d be some story to do it,” he said. “You’ve got to consider what it takes to get there, though. Once I get out there and start playing consistently well, then you can ask yourself further questions about that step. I haven’t played since I was a junior but to play at that level with England would be amazing.”