'Much harder': Sam Burgess' brutal admission about marriage split
NRL great Sam Burgess has admitted his marriage breakdown with ex-wife Phoebe is "much harder" than he expected.
In an emotionally charged interview about the very public and acrimonious split from the mother of his two children, Burgess insists daughter Poppy and son Billy are the most important parts of his life as he attempts to move on from the turmoil of his marriage split.
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Earlier this year, Burgess saw his conviction for intimidating his father-in-law quashed after a judge said there was reasonable doubt the offence occurred.
The legal dramas followed his ugly marriage breakdown in which the league player was at the centre of drug and domestic violence allegations from ex-wife Phoebe.
He has strenuously denied the claims.
The Burgesses were married in 2015 but announced their split in 2019, weeks after the pair welcomed second child William ‘Billy’ Burgess in December, 2018.
They also share daughter Poppy, born in January 2017.
After the marriage ended, Phoebe and the kids moved to her parents Sarah and Mitchell Hooke's Bowral property in the NSW Southern Highlands, where they currently live.
Burgess' relationship dramas have hit the headlines again recently after his appearance on reality TV show SAS: Australia, on which the former Rabbitohs NRL star admitted that he turned to drugs and alcohol during his marriage breakdown.
Speaking with The Daily Telegraph's Stellar, Burgess says he "still cares" about Phoebe and is determined to foster an amicable relationship with his ex-wife for the benefit of their two children.
“It is much harder than I thought it would be,” Burgess said about the split with his ex-wife.
“Essentially, I still think it is the right decision for us both... I still care about Phoebe, we have two amazing kids. We just didn’t work out as a married couple.
“We should work out as parents and that, to me, is the most important thing right now. I’m trying to better myself so we can be better co-parents, which is my ultimate goal in this situation.”
Focus on kids after Burgess marriage breakdown
Phoebe said herself in April that her two kids were vital in helping her cope with "a lot of ugly stuff" that accompanied her high-profile relationship breakdown.
“I have days where I want to give up and fall apart and I just want to break – I want to go to sleep and not wake up for a while, for everything to stop, but you can’t,” Phoebe told Stellar.
“It sounds awful but being trapped in motherhood and being trapped in responsibility has saved my life.”
Burgess was found guilty in February of intimidating Phoebe's dad Mitchell, before successfully appealing the ruling in March.
A magistrate in February found the 32-year-old Burgess had yelled "f*** you, I'm going to get you" 20 centimetres from Mitchell Hooke's face during an expletive-riddled rage, sparked when Burgess was asked to leave the Hookes' Southern Highlands property in October 2019.
Goulburn District Court Judge Mark Williams last month upheld Burgess's appeal, saying the former league star's version of events was "at least, reasonably possible".
He found "of little relevance" the evidence of the only third-party witness, Mr Hooke's daughter and Burgess's sister-in-law Harriet, who had come upon the men arguing after the alleged threats were made.
"This was a case of the word of Burgess against the word of Hooke," the judge said.
with agencies
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