Yet the man who gave him his Great Britain debut is blameless for him being out of pocket – it is all down to Adrian Morley.
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The Warrington boss tonight takes on the man who handed the then teenager a memorable international bow against New Zealand in 2007 in his first home match as boss against Hull FC.
A try and a now legendary hit on Kiwi prop Fuifui Moimoi announced his arrival on the world stage, a glimpse of the player he would become.
But even though he became an NRL star, memories of Morley taking his money over cards remain as vivid 17 years on.
Burgess recalled: “We’d play cards every night and Adrian gave me hard and fast rules on poker. He took my cash off me every week!
“Tony had the courage to start me in the front row in a Test match when I was an 18-year-old kid.
“I was blessed with him and Steve McNamara was his assistant at the time. I really enjoyed working with him back then.
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“He taught me a couple of things, told me to toughen up at times and play smarter at others. He also let me be myself.
“I was in camp, in Manchester city centre at a flash hotel, with some unbelievable players – that week was the most fun I’d had in my life.”
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Burgess is looking for a win in his first home match after Warrington impressed while going down 16-10 at Grand Finalists Catalans.
And teenage Warrington winger Arron Lindop looks set to keep his place after a try scoring debut – even though he had to miss training on Tuesday as he had college!
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But Burgess believes the 17-year-old has already shown he can juggle the two, adding: “I love Arron’s position with it and I really encourage him to finish his schooling.
“To come and train with us, he does his work at night so he gets in front – he banked his work when we went to France for three days.
“The kid’s managing all this and playing at the highest level, as well as being happy. He had a big day with classes on Tuesday and has exams coming up but he’s a pretty composed young man and takes it all in his stride.
“I didn’t go to college – I was offered a full-time contract when I finished year 11. Try stopping a 16-year-old when that happens.”