Burgess focuses on future

SOUTH Sydney veteran Sam Burgess is fed up talking about last year, insisting he doesn’t care about pundits writing off the team’s NRL finals hopes.

The Rabbitohs endured a forgettable 2017 campaign, with their 12th-placed finish costing coach Michael Maguire his job.

A new era has begun with the appointment of Anthony Seibold as coach, while the return of Greg Inglis from a knee reconstruction will give the side added firepower.

Seibold wants to simplify things under his reign, and promote a more free-flowing style.

But Burgess, who is entering his eighth year at the Rabbitohs, got noticeably testy when asked about whether there was too much structure under Maguire last year.

“I’m fed up with everyone talking about last year,” he said.

“Everyone’s asking about it. Last year’s gone. Let’s just focus with what’s going on.

“We’ve got the season starting. You’ll see the style we want to play.

“I guess you can make the comparisons on Saturday. But for us, it’s about us moving forward now as a team.”

The Rabbitohs begin their season against the NZ Warriors at Perth’s new $1.5 billion stadium tonight.

South Sydney have missed the finals for the past two seasons, and they are being tipped to fall just short yet again in most betting markets.

But Burgess isn’t interested in what betting markets or fans are predicting.

“That’s fine. Pundits can have their comments,” he said.

“We’ll keep it internal. We’ve got our own goals. We’ve got our things that will drive us during the year, so we’ll just use that.”

Burgess is looking forward to the return of Inglis, who will play in the centres instead of his favoured position at fullback.

The shift is designed to ease him back into top-flight football.

“We’ll see him in some space on the weekend hopefully,” Burgess said.