In Round 15, Burgess made his NRL début for South Sydney against the Parramatta Eels, playing off the interchange bench in the 30-10 win at ANZ Stadium. In August, against the Wests Tigers, the Burgess Brothers became the first set of four brothers to line up in the same Australian side since Ray, Roy, Rex and Bernard Norman played for Sydney's Annandale club in the 1910 NSWRFL season. South Sydney won 32-18 at SFS. Burgess finished his début year in the NRL with 9 appearances. He joined England's 24-man squad for the World Cup, and played in 2 matches.