Greg Inglis admitted he struggled with the extra responsibility that came with being appointed South Sydney captain earlier this year, and his form suffered as a result.
Inglis endured a slow start to the year by his high standards after taking over the Rabbitohs captaincy from John Sutton.
The Australian and Queensland representative said the increased demands that came with the leadership role, had him over-thinking his role in the Souths’ side.
“I think probably with the captaincy at the start of the year I was looking at different ways to approach the game and that just isn’t me,” Inglis said.
“I like to sit back and relax and really love what I do and that is play footy.
“Over the last few months I have not really thought about what goes on in the outside world, just bunkered down and concentrate on what I wanted to do.”
Inglis returned to his devastating best in State of Origin II and III in a big boost to the Rabbitohs premiership hopes in the run-in to the finals.
Speaking at the SCG ahead of Souths’ round 19 heritage round clash against St George Illawarra at the venue, the superstar fullback said he was now more comfortable with the captaincy role as the Rabbitohs zero in on back-to-back NRL titles.
“When it (the captaincy) first got handed to me I was really happy about it,” Inglis said.
“But then I probably just went about, I thought about it in different ways and worried about too many different things around the club.
“Now I have found in the last few months that if I just put all that aside and just concentrate on myself and what I can bring to the team I’ll play my best footy.”
Inglis said he has returned to Redfern refreshed after time off following Queensland’s State of Origin series success.
“When you go through those (Origin) games there is all this hype, but my club has been very good in the sense of giving me days off after it,” Inglis said.
“They just gave me five days off and now I’m feeling mentally fresh and the body is feeling good too.
“Origin is done and dusted now and I can concentrate on Souths.
“There is no easy game from here on in. There are only eight weeks left and we need to find that consistency over the next few weeks.”
