SKIP TO MAIN CONTENT

Burgess has matured after ban: Maguire

South Sydney coach Michael Maguire says George Burgess has moved on from his two-match suspension for throwing an elbow at Mitch Barnett.

George Burgess of the Rabbitohs
Souths say George Burgess has moved on from his two-match suspension for throwing an elbow. (AAP)

2 min read

Published

Source: AAP


Skip to article content

South Sydney coach Michael Maguire has confidently declared misfiring prop George Burgess' history of brain snaps are behind him.

The Rabbitohs prop is available to make his NRL return for Friday's clash with Penrith after serving a two-match ban for striking.

Burgess is lucky not to have been rubbed out for longer after lashing out at Newcastle's Mitch Barnett with a wild elbow.

Maguire described his charge's actions as uncharacteristic and predicted he would learn a valuable lesson about harnessing his aggression.

"He's over those sort of things," Maguire said.

News that makes sense

Your trusted source for staying up-to-date with the world around you. Get free daily news updates and analysis, straight to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

"He probably looks back at that now and he'll take a fair bit out of that moment in time."

Burgess has been named on an extended bench for Friday's clash with the Panthers at Pepper Stadium and could end up playing NSW Cup.

The English bookend has a history of letting his emotions get the better of him after he was in 2015 suspended from his side's preliminary final against Cronulla after a water bottle throwing incident.

After being arguably the form prop of the competition during Souths' run to the 2014 title, Burgess has been markedly down on form this year, averaging just 81m and 12.5 tackles and was dropped for the Rabbitohs' season-opener against Wests Tigers.

It led older brother and skipper Sam Burgess to jump to his defence, describing his strike at Barnett as out of character, a point echoed by Maguire.

"It's uncharacteristic of George and he just wants to get back and play good footy for the team," Maguire said.


Get SBS News straight to your inbox

Sign up now for daily news from Australia and around the world. You can also subscribe to Insight's weekly newsletter for in-depth features and first-person stories.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Follow SBS News

Download our apps

Listen to our podcasts

Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service

Stream now

Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world