Rugby made me a better player: Burgess

Sam Burgess is glad his rugby union "rollercoaster" is over but has declared he will be a better NRL player because of his ill-fated 12-month stint in the 15-a-side code.

Burgess arrived back in Sydney early on Wednesday morning, saying he learned a lot about himself as a player while playing rugby.

"It is different training to what I've done in the backline and as a forward in rugby union, so I think it improves me as an athlete all round," Burgess said.

"It's been a rollercoaster I guess ... it's been an experience. I'll look back on it over the next couple of months and years because it's been awesome. In terms of life experiences it has been great, we have had challenges but that's part of it.

"For the first few months you're battling a few mental disagreements when trying to understand the ins and outs of the game.

"You get over it that but my levels of passion, heart and desire weren't at the levels it had been as a rugby league player."

His return to Australia coincided with a fierce backlash from the English rugby club he walked out on, with Bath's coach Mike Ford suggesting Burgess was "gutless".

Ford said Bath's coaches and players had invested a lot in Burgess, only for the ex-Bradford Bulls player to continue to chase a return to Sydney.

"All I know is that he didn't have the stomach to see out his contract," said Ford.

"For me this was the time to roll his sleeves up and become the player that I thought he could be - and he chose not to.

"You don't know what he was thinking, it wasn't until the final talk I had with him that I felt there was nothing more I could do."

The dual international has signed a three-year contract with Souths.

He said he never considered going to another NRL club and that he wanted to commit to Redfern long-term.

"I would find it very hard to put a different shirt on. I love this club, the experience I had here over the five seasons I played are unbelievable," he said.

"I think a few guys left last year ... but it's been great watching players grow. Greg (Inglis) and John (Sutton), Luke Keary have all stepped up in certain areas of the game.

"I'm really looking forward to just stepping in amongst the guys."