Burgess is unapologetic for hit on Farah - but will check on him

Rabbitohs strongman Sam Burgess says he might reach out to Robbie Farah to make sure he's alright after their Saturday night altercation at ANZ Stadium - because of the amount of publicity his tackle on the Wests Tigers hooker has generated.

"I feel like I should ring him now after this interview as I feel like everyone is talking about it," Burgess said on Monday as he launched Fox Sport's 'Retro Round' ahead of round 20.

"I didn't realise how big it was. I guess there was a bit of frustration there as I didn't think it was a penalty at the time, then it was put on the report.

“So there was frustration there. "

Farah fell to the turf in the 19th minute after a two-man tackle involving Burgess and teammate Junior Tatola in the Tigers 22-6 win. Referee Matt Cecchin placed Burgess on report but the match review committee took no action.

Regardless, debate rages about whether the tackle was a fair hit or not. 

"I thought 50 per cent felt like that and 50 per cent didn't," Burgess said on Monday.

"I think Robbie thought I got him up near his mouth but that was from the other player, Junior, in the tackle who collided with him afterwards.

"I think it looked spectacular at the time and that’s why he made a bit of deal out of it.

"It was just a tackle in my opinion."

Farah's post-match comments show he has no issues with Burgess.

"He gets a bit fired up out there, big Sammy, but he's just a competitor and he's a winner," he said.

"There's no hard feelings. He plays the game tough and fair, there was nothing in that."

There is no doubt however, that Burgess attracts a lot of attention from referees. He has been suspended twice this year for hits on Josh Morris [Bulldogs] and Aidan Sezer [Raiders].

"I just love playing the game; I love the way I play it; and I’ve always played that way since I was a kid," he said.

"I don’t think I get picked on... it's hard to answer. I think I have had a few tough calls but I'm not complaining about that. I just get on with it."

Burgess does regret swearing in the Farah incident, knowing that it all gets picked up on the referees' microphone for the public audience.

"I don’t think it looks pretty… I don't know I'm probably not proud of the way it looks in terms of what I said… at the time it was how I felt.

"If you miked up everything on the field you'd be surprised what's said out there… they're not personal things, it's just I'm competing, he's competing, we are playing a physical game."

But Burgess did believe there was still "a certain element" in the game of players milking penalties, without specifically calling out Farah.

The England dual international did label Farah "a cat" in Saturday night's match.

"No, he's a tiger," Burgess said on Monday, with a laugh. "I'm trying to goad him to get off the floor. I want him to get up because I know from pervious history at the judiciary, that counts in the judiciary.

"I don't think it was a high tackle… I know they are scrutinised in today's game – any head knock or head contact and you could be on the sidelines.

"I didn’t think he was injured at the time."

To celebrate FOX LEAGUE’s Retro Round, fans will be able to purchase tickets to every NRL game in Round 20 at discounted prices. Fans can redeem the ticket offer by logging onto nrl.com/tickets and entering the code word ‘retro’ from midnight tonight (Monday 23 July) to midnight tomorrow night (Tuesday 24 July) for Sydney games and Wednesday night (July 25) for Queensland games.