High-flying South Sydney will prepare for another NRL week without their State of Origin stars, holding faith their relentless work ethic will see them past Gold Coast if the quartet can’t back up.
The Rabbitohs named Damien Cook, Angus Crichton, captain Greg Inglis and Dane Gagai to face the Titans two days after Origin I, as Anthony Seibold’s third-placed side attempt a sixth-straight win.
But stand-in skipper Sam Burgess said none would be pushed to make the 48-hour interstate turnaround from the MCG to Cbus Super Stadium.
“With it being a short turnaround I think we’ll wait and see how they pull up,” Burgess said.
“Three of the guys are starting (Origin), so Greg, Dane and Cookey will play big minutes.
“If they want to back up, if they’re feeling good, we’ll get them back in.
“But there’s no pressure on them from our end.
“If the Origin boys don’t back up we’ve got a bit of depth there and everyone is pretty clear on the job.”
Gagai remains in doubt as he prepares to push through the pain of a training-ground compound dislocation and start for Queensland on Wednesday night.
But, in a major boost, Alex Johnston will be back in the No.1 jersey.
Evergreen Robbie Farah has slipped back to the reserves but, if Cook is not ready to play, could yet return to fill the hole at hooker after making a game-high 62 tackles in last weekend’s epic takedown of form team Cronulla.
If Souths needed confirmation they can still perform without key personnel it was that 22-14 victory over a near full-strength Sharks.
The win was their fifth on the trot – the most since the club’s breakthrough 2014 premiership – and had Andrew Johns declaring them genuine title contenders.
Just as he did after the game, Burgess played down premiership talk, opting instead to talk up the squad’s depth and industry.
But he remained wary of a 12th-placed Titans side that’s named Origin representatives Jarrod Wallace and Jai Arrow.
“The guys are really focused,” he said.
“Obviously we’ve been getting results off it, so the guys are really buying into the way we’re preparing.
“The Titans play extremely well up on the Gold Coast … they’ve got a great forward pack – if their boys from Origin back up they’ve almost got a representative pack.
“So it’s going to be a challenge for us, we know that. It keeps you pretty honest.
“The moment you don’t turn up and work out on Monday is probably the moment you get beat.”
