As he prepares for his own NRL return, South Sydney captain Sam Burgess says the Rabbitohs are getting on with things following his brother George’s devastating nine-week ban for eye gouging.
George won’t be available again until the finals following the verdict on his gouge to the face of Wests Tigers’ veteran Robbie Farah.
“He’s obviously pretty disappointed, but it’s nice we’ve got a result there now, we can work forwards and know what we’re doing and put a plan in place. That’s healthy,” Sam Burgess said on Monday.
Asked if he expected to see George back in the NRL next year following the end of his Rabbitohs contract at the end of this season, Sam said: “I can’t predict the future, we’ll just wait and see.”
He was more descriptive about his own future, saying he was a good chance to return to NRL action against Manly on Saturday, after missing two games due to shoulder surgery.
“Subject to a fitness test later in the week, but trained well this morning so, it’s looking positive at the moment,” Burgess said.
The Rabbitohs will again be without the third Burgess, George’s twin brother Thomas, as he continues his recovery from ankle surgery.
“Tommy has been out for a week or two, and then obviously George is out for an extended period, now so we’ll miss their presence surely,” Sam said.
“But that gives more chance for Liam Knight to play a bit more time; he’s stepped up really well, Junior (Tatola).
‘You’ll probably see Tom Amone a bit more, Dean Britt has been fantastic so although we’ll miss them (George and Thomas), we’re getting some youth and some energetic players.”
Souths have lost their last four matches to slip to third on the ladder, with Burgess saying the Rabbitohs looked “disconnected” at times in the games he missed.
“There was plenty of effort there, we got ourselves in front, against Penrith and Wests but just couldn’t close the games out, which was probably the most disappointing thing,” Burgess said.
“‘Everyone knows what’s going wrong, it’s just a matter of getting it done correctly on the field.”
“But we’ll learn from that, we’ll grow as a team.”