An emotional Sam Burgess thanked his wife, family and club for their support during the NRL's investigation into a sexting scandal, suggesting the truth will come out before South Sydney's preliminary final on Saturday.
Burgess addressed reporters on Tuesday, speaking publicly for the first time about allegations lewd images were sent to a young woman from one of his social media accounts earlier this year.
The Englishman refused to discuss specifics, reiterating throughout the 12-minute press conference he is "happy for the truth to come out" but unable to comment publicly because the league's integrity unit is still probing the matter.
Burgess expects the NRL will finalise its investigation within 24-48 hours.
The 29-year-old possess some of the broadest shoulders in the league but it was clear on Tuesday the allegations, made public on the eve of the Rabbitohs' semi-final against St George Illawarra, have taken some toll.
Burgess struggled to speak at the start of Tuesday's interview then became deeply emotional when discussing his heavily-pregnant wife Phoebe.
"I just want to protect my family in this whole thing," Burgess said.
"I just want them to be safe and happy and with my current situation at home (photographers and TV cameras camped outside), there's no chance of that.
"I'm not angry. What hurts me the most is seeing my wife upset about what's out there.
"I've been in situations before, dealt with much harder things in my life ... and football has always been great for me.
"My poor family, they don't have the distraction I do. I will be fine come game time."
The league is in the final stages of its investigation.
Burgess could yet be suspended but Souths' talismanic forward, who won the Clive Churchill medal in their 2014 grand-final victory, is very much preparing to play the Sydney Roosters at Allianz Stadium.
"There's a lot of important things going on at the moment. I've got some serious football games in front of me, this process we're going through," he said.
"It's been a tough process to go through ... as someone said earlier, a bit of a circus.
"Fortunately I've got a strong wife.
"My teammates have been fantastic. We all have challenges at times. We get through them, we grow. It's brought us together.
"I'm grateful that two of my brothers are in the team ... I've got plenty of support around me."
Asked about the timing of the story about the incident in May, Burgess replied "you can make your own assumptions".
Burgess insisted he wasn't "running away and hiding from what's out there" but had to respect the integrity unit's process.
"I'm not going to put myself into a position that's going to get me into trouble," he said.
