Rugby talk in the Burgess household has gone on hold in the build-up to Saturday's Leeds-Bradford engage Super League derby which pits brother against brother.

Bradford Bulls' Great Britain forward Sam Burgess shares a house in West Yorkshire with his older brother Luke, who is a prop with arch rivals Leeds Rhinos, and they will go head to head on the opening day of the Millennium Magic extravaganza in Cardiff.

The siblings eat, drink and sleep rugby league, much of the time with 16-year-old twins Tom and George, but this week have deliberately avoided talk of the big match for fear of letting slip trade secrets.

"Tom and George, who have just signed on at Bradford, live with my mum but they spend a lot of time here with me and Sam and we have plenty of fun together," said Luke.

"We normally talk rugby but we've just tried to leave it at the clubs this week."

Luke, 21, made his Super League debut in the inaugural Millennium Magic event 12 months ago while on loan to Harlequins but has now broken into the first team at Leeds and will make his 10th consecutive appearance.

It will be the third time he has faced 19-year-old Sam and so far honours have been shared.

Sam was the winner last year when Bradford beat a Harlequins team containing Luke but he was on the losing side when the Bulls crashed to a 44-2 defeat at Headingley in March.

Sam admits that playing against his brother was a strange experience but he is confident it will not put a strain on their close relationship.

"It was a bit different," he said. "Normally on game day we're encouraging each other but we couldn't really talk to each other.

"It was a good experience, though, and something we might have to get used to because Leeds and Bradford play each other four times."

Sam was Super League's young player of the year in 2007 and justified his shock selection for Great Britain with a tryscoring debut against New Zealand, an achievement he dedicated to his father, Mark Burgess, who lost his fight against Motor Neurone Disease on the eve of last year's Millennium Magic.

"I am made up for Sam," said Luke. "We are all really proud of him. We just can't believe how much he's achieved in such a short space of time.

"It's fantastic and, hopefully things will keep just getting better. We both really want each other to do well - all four of us really - we always back each other.

"When we are playing against each other, the most difficult part is the build-up to the game but, when you get on the field, you just play your normal game and worry about playing well and hopefully getting the win.

"We don't try to avoid anyone on the rugby field and just because he's my brother doesn't make any difference.

"Playing against Bradford is obviously very special because it's a local derby and there is a lot of hype about the game.

"With it being part of Millennium Magic makes it even more exciting and it's definitely something I'm looking forward to."

Castleford will make their Millennium Stadium debut in the second match on against local rivals Wakefield and, after watching last year's event as a National League club, coach Terry Matterson is looking forward to experiencing the atmosphere.

"It came across well on television," he said. "It looked fantastic and we're really looking forward to the occasion."

Wakefield, who have won their last three League matches, will be out to atone for a 36-12 hammering by Huddersfield in Cardiff a year ago.

"We didn't do ourselves justice last year," admitted Wildcats coach John Kear. "I thought we froze on the big stage.

"We let ourselves down and we let the travelling supporters down. This time we're playing Castleford and we really need to make sure our performance equals recent performances."

Super League's out-of-form teams kick off tomorrow's programme. Warrington have slipped from second to sixth in the table on the back of four successive defeats while Huddersfield are next to bottom after winning just one of their last eight matches.

"My team have been playing very committed football this season but they haven't been able to maintain it on a week-to-week basis," admitted Giants coach Jon Sharp. "We've lacked consistency."

On Sunday, Catalans Dragons meet Harlequins in the opener at 2.30pm, followed by the Hull derby and the showdown between Wigan and St Helens.

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