It was a good idea at the time.

A team jet boat joy ride on the Gold Coast has left some England players with colds days ahead of their Four Nations tournament opener against Samoa in Brisbane.

But giant prop George Burgess reckoned he was still feeling no pain after sparking South Sydney’s memorable NRL premiership triumph despite a bad case of the sniffles.

Burgess was one of the more obvious affected by the jet boat ride when he fronted media as part of their Gold Coast camp with a nasty head cold – and he wasn’t alone.

“There’s a little bit (of illness going around),” he said.

“We went on a jet boat ride (on Sunday) and a few of the boys got a bit cold and wet out there so I think that might have sparked it a little bit but all the boys are enjoying the sun.”

Indeed Burgess was feeling bulletproof as he still tried to get his head around chiming into the Rabbitohs’ first NRL triumph in 43 years.

His brother Sam may have won the Clive Churchill Medal after braving a broken cheekbone but George Burgess provided the spark with his barnstorming try that gave the Rabbitohs a 12-6 lead with 22 minutes left.

“It’s a great experience, winning a grand final and to do it for a club like South Sydney was unbelievable,” he said.

“But I’m here now in England camp and definitely focused on this job and trying to bring a bit of glory back to England.”

As “crook” as he felt, George Burgess still sounded like he had nothing on his brother Sam who must overcome facial surgery that implanted metal plates before launching a new career with English rugby club Bath.

“It (surgery) went great,” George Burgess said.

“He got the plates in there and the operation went well so he’s just waiting for the swelling to go down and waiting for it to all heal up and he’ll be on his way back to England to get started with Bath.”