Michael Maguire says John Sutton has learnt his lesson from his Arizona incident and will be ready to hit the ground running for round one of the NRL.
After a turbulent week, Sutton was heavily involved in the action, setting up a try and being sin-binned in the side's 20-all trial draw with Queensland Cup side Northern Pride on Saturday night.
Sutton was sin-binned in the opening quarter for a professional foul after running down the Pride's Sam Obst at Redfern Oval.
He ran 70m to make a try-saving tackle on the Pride halfback however the Souths captain was given 10 minutes for holding down in the attacker while his side got back onside.
Sutton had not been back on long when he set up Souths' first try.
Despite wearing the No.12 jersey, he took play-making duties upon himself for much of the time he was on the field and put in a deft kick for Setefano Taukafa's try.
He received a rousing round of applause from the Souths faithful when he came from the field just before the three-quarter time break.
"It's been a tough week (for Sutton) and he's pretty passionate about everything he's done in life," Souths coach Maguire said.
"He's learnt a lot of lessons. He got (sin-binned) and then he went back out there.
"You saw him on the sidelines with the kids at the back end of the game, cheering them on and trying to get them through. He just enjoys playing with the younger boys in the club."
The NRL Integrity Unit has reopened its investigation into a late-night incident in Arizona when Sutton and Luke Burgess were arrested after a scuffle with a security guard.
Burgess paid "satisfaction" - or compensation - to the security guard in exchange for the charges being dropped.
Sutton was one of his side's best along with Tom Burgess, who looked strong in a 40-minute hit out.
Glenn Stewart also played the first half in his Rabbitohs debut and will play for the reigning premiers in the World Club Challenge in England next week.
The Pride took an 8-4 lead into halftime thanks to a double to 36-year-old journeyman Semi Tadulala.
The Pride looked to be headed for victory at 20-8 with six minutes to go but two quick four-pointers to Eden Syme and Jordie Hedges tied up the scores.
Share
