THOMAS Burgess has come a long way since his final season at Bradford when the club entered administration, were docked six points and flirted with oblivion.

Three years on, the hulking South Sydney prop has won an NRL title and is an England regular.

Burgess scored his first international try in last weekend's warm-up game against France in front of big brother Sam and the 23-year-old should feature against New Zealand in Sunday's opening Test at the KC Stadium.

His England commitments have also reunited him with three former Bulls team-mates in Elliott Whitehead, Luke Gale and John Bateman.

Few can forget that traumatic 2012 campaign, when Mick Potter's side fought admirably all season on the pitch while chaos reigned off it.

"It's good to see the boys from that Bradford team in 2012 doing so well now," said Burgess.

"Galey, Elliott and John have done really well to get in there this year and they have had great seasons.

"You look at John and he's one of those really gritty players. There isn't much to him but he has a go.

"He has a big heart and will keep going all day. He has carved himself into a bit of a centre now, which is different to when I was playing with him at Bradford.

"People say that Bulls side wasn't up to scratch but four of those players are in the England team now, so imagine if we had all stayed at Bradford?

"It was a funny one that year at Bradford because we got deducted those points and I just remember having fond memories of how close we were as a group."

Nothing better summed up the fighting spirit in that Bulls side than the night they went to Wigan and won in June 2012.

There were serious doubts over the club's continued existence at that point and Burgess led the raucous celebrations after the 30-22 win.

He recalled: "That night when we won at Wigan, we just thought 'stuff it, we'll have a go'.

"To be honest, that's the attitude you should have every week and I remember singing the song at the end in front of all the fans.

"I used to lead the song and that night in particular was a great memory."

Burgess became the last of the four brothers to head to South Sydney, following in the footsteps of Sam, Luke and twin brother George.

He was out of contract at the end of 2012 and was happy to join the rest of the clan at Souths – and has never really looked back since.

"It was a one-year deal, a leap of faith, and it ended up working out," reflected Burgess.

"All the boys had gone out a year at a time before me. I had been on my own for nearly two years and Bradford were on a downward spiral with everything that happened.

"I was off contract and the Bulls were struggling financially, so that was my time to move on.

"I made a point of finishing my contract there and that's what I did, so I was either going to join another Super League team or go to Souths.

"I signed for a year at Souths, re-signed for another year after that and now George and I have just signed new three-year deals.

"It has been awesome but Bradford will always have a place in my heart, definitely. That's where I came through the ranks and I was gutted to see them lose to Wakefield in the Million Pound Game.

"I've still got a few friends there and I'd love to see them come back up one day."

Burgess recently met up with former Bulls team-mate Adrian Purtell and has spoken to Jimmy Lowes about life at Odsal.

The Bradford head coach is serving as assistant to England chief Steve McNamara and Burgess said: "I'm friends with Purts and he's stuck by the Bulls and remained loyal.

"You've got to admire him for that and he's still passionate about the club. He's got a lot of motivation to get back up and I really hope they do.

"I've been chatting to Jimmy Lowes about it and it seems everyone is keen to get back to Super League."

Burgess made the grade at Odsal after watching brother Sam burst onto the scene as a teenager before becoming the hottest property in world rugby, in either code.

"George and I used to watch Sam and he was the first one us to come through," he said.

"Then Luke came through and it was sort of written in the stars that if George and I worked hard enough, then we could get there too.

"And it is hard work – it doesn't just come easily. You do have to work for it and we had to make a choice to work hard and put in the effort in training. That's what we did."