Burgess rugby clan in different league to the Brownlee brothers This weekend Sam and Luke are on the verge of an ever rarer achievement, earning a place in the National Rugby League Grand Final - the Rabbitohs face the Canterbury Bulldogs, whose fans include Steve and Mark Waugh, in a semi-final that has fired up the city. The Burgess brothers grew up in Liversedge, West Yorkshire, with Julie and their father Mark, who also played professional rugby league for a variety of struggling clubs. Horribly, he contracted motor neurone disease at a young age and the brothers acted as his carers until he died early in 2007. Julie is an amazing Amazonian figure who also played rugby. Somehow, she has combined raising four hulking sons and speaking five languages with being the vice-principal of a Yorkshire school. Sam, now 23, is often described as one of Sydney's most eligible, if bashful, bachelors. He had been suspicious when the phone rang and a man claiming to be Crowe asked to meet him. However it was true: Crowe had watched Burgess on television with burgeoning interest in the gaps between filming Robin Hood. Sam, Julie and a handful of his friends were invited over to the film set in Ashbourne, where 'Robin' persuaded Sam to sign a four-year contract. It is not known if he was wearing tights. Souths paid Bradford a compensation fee, Sam moved over during the winter of 2009 and was an overnight hit. He now has a fair claim to be the most famous English sportsman in Sydney. George signed for Souths in December 2010, on promise alone. He was only 18 and although he was part of Bradford's development squad had never played a Super League game. Six months later it was Luke's turn. The oldest brother, he had been a solid but not extraordinary player for Leeds, who were happy to let him move to Australia. But, against all expectation, he got into the first team in his first year and had maintained that position this season. Lastly Tom, whose future with a Bradford club struck down by uncertainty was unclear, signed on the dotted line. He will be ready for the start of the Australian season in February. That this amazing family should end up with the Rabbitohs just adds to the glorious story - the club has history perfect for a TV mini-series if not Hollywood. Redfern has always been classic rugby league territory, a tough working-class area, now with a large aboriginal population - legend has it that Souths gained their nickname because at the turn of the 20th century players would hawk rabbits for extra money, sometimes splattering their famous green and red hoops with blood while skinning the creatures on street corners. The team lacked the glamour of the other Sydney clubs, until Crowe got involved in an emotive battle following their exclusion from the rebel Super League competition launched by Rupert Murdoch in 1995. The Burgess success story can only be good news for British rugby league ahead of the World Cup held in this country next autumn. And good news too for those other Yorkshire brothers, the Brownlees, keen rugby league fans when not out fell-running. As for Julie, and this band of brothers that she has raised, there can only be a huge serving of pride.