It seemed like a throwaway moment as it happened but when George Burgess’s not unsubstantial head collected Josh Dugan’s knee during last year’s Charity Shield it would pretty nicely sum up the season ahead for Souths and St George Illawarra.
Burgess Jnr, the rampaging prop, would have an outstanding year in the Rabbitohs’ premiership campaign while talismanic back Dugan – who was ruled out for five weeks after the incident – was left to carry the can for a forward pack that just couldn’t match it with the best sides in the NRL.
Souths won the match in a canter, 38-20.
A year on and not that much looks to have changed.
Preparing for Saturday’s Charity Shield clash at ANZ Stadium, Souths again look to have the muscle up front despite the departure of Sam Burgess and Ben Te’o.
The Dragons will rely heavily on their attacking troika of halves Benji Marshall and five-eighth Gareth Widdop, with Dugan settling back into his best position at fullback.
They do lose Brett Morris, who has linked with his brother Josh at Canterbury.
With only a few minor additions in the forwards the question is whether the Dragons can improve significantly from 2014.
“We aren’t worried about last year too much,” Dugan said.
“We know it was unsettled from a playing group and a coaching group perspective and we are looking to put that behind us.”
While the playing stocks don’t look to have improved dramatically, coach Paul McGregor has expanded the backroom team by hiring recently retired duo Ben Hornby and Dean Young to the coaching ranks.
They’ll pretty soon discover whether they can overcome what is still thought to be a lack of size up front when they play Souths.
Fresh from their Auckland Nines win, the Rabbitohs have a busy few weeks ahead with a World Club Championship match against Super League champions St Helens in England on February 22.
At a time when some players are complaining about too much rugby league, Souths coach Michael Maguire said he was happy with the workload.
“We’d still be back here training and doing the things we are doing … it’s actually a really good opportunity for our players to spend some time together … so I can’t see any problem with that one,” he said.
Forward recruits Glenn Stewart and Tim Grant have been named on the bench for Souths, Maguire hedging his bets with half Adam Reynolds who picked up a minor hamstring injury during the Nines.
Reynolds will continue to be assessed before the match but Maguire hinted he may not start, telling Sky Sport Radio: “It’s a good time to blood a few young guys coming in if they get the chance.”
Up to 10 match officials will be trialled in the match with the NRL looking to speed up the game this season by reducing the number of video referee referrals.
