THE Burgess name is one of the most widely known in the history of the Ovens and Murray league.
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The family boasts the likes of Ovens and Murray Hall of Famer Lindy Burgess, Morris Medallist and current Corowa-Rutherglen coach Terry Burgess, interleague representative Terry Burgess Senior and Myrtleford stalwart Scott Burgess.
Up and coming young gun Christian Burgess is the latest to put his name forward and add to his family's illustrious list of achievements when he joins the fray against the Hampden league tomorrow.
With such a lengthy list of footballing achievements in the family, Burgess said he's never had to look far for advice.
“I'm really close to my old man (Scott),” he said.
“We speak on the phone pretty much every day and the conversation invariably turns to footy.
“I've spoken to Terry a fair bit about footy as well, we usually catch up at least once a week.
“He's given me a few things to work on in my own game this season, he told me at the start of the year that these are the things I have to do if I want to have a crack at making the interleague side.
“It was a huge honour just to get picked in the first squad, so to get picked to play on Saturday is really exciting.”
Burgess, who is based in Melbourne, said it had been tricky to prepare for the interleague clash without being able to train with his teammates.
Despite this, the rising star said he was clear on his role as a small forward and midfielder.
“I would have loved to get up there and train with the boys, you know most of them when you're on the field but you always want to get to know them a bit better,” he said.
“But I've been speaking with Darrell (Spencer) pretty often, he's been updating us all on what we need to do.”
In an added bonus for Burgess, he'll fulfil something of a childhood dream when he crosses the white line alongside former Western Bulldogs and Melbourne champion Daniel Cross.
“I've been a Bulldogs fan all my life, I looked up to him when I was a kid,” he said.
“I used to watch him at training and was just in awe of the way he went about it.
“Playing against him earlier this year was big enough as it is.
“He's got such an incredible workrate, he taught me a few lessons when I was on him in the midfield.
“I think it'll be good to be on his team this time, I spent a lot of time running behind him last time we were out there together.”