England coach Steve McNamara admitted he thought about including all four Sydney-based Burgess brothers in his World Cup squad before leaving one of them out.
South Sydney trio Sam, 24, and 21-year-old twins George and Tom all made it into McNamara’s party but Luke, the oldest of the quartet at the age of 26 who played alongside his three brothers for the Rabbitohs against Wests Tigers in August, failed to make the cut.
“As well as making the nice phone calls, you’ve got to make the ones that are not so nice,” McNamara said.
“It’s very tough, I can only imagine what it must feel like to have your three brothers in a World Cup squad and you’re not part of it.
“But it’s part and parcel of the game and I’m sure Luke understands that.
“It would have been a marketing dream to have had all four but it was based on what I feel is best for performance.
“There are a number of players who are unfortunate not the make the squad. It’s been a difficult selection.”
Huddersfield prop Eorl Crabtree was the most notable omission but, with Wigan and Warrington still to play the Super League Grand Final on Saturday, McNamara said there could yet be changes to his squad before England’s tournament opener against Australia in Cardiff on October 26.
“We’ve got a Grand Final to get through, a very intense training camp and a (warm-up) game against Italy so there could quite well be some changes,” said McNamara.
“Basically anybody who has been involved in our elite training squad is on stand-by — Luke and (Cronulla back-rower) Chris (Heighington) are ready to go in against Australia if needed.”
England, who will be looking to win their first World Cup since 1972 when they competed as Great Britain, are the main hosts of this year’s tournament.
Defending champions New Zealand will look to retain the title they won five years ago after a shock 34-20 win over then hosts Australia in the final at Brisbane.