South Sydney prop George Burgess has credited rookie coach Anthony Seibold for rebuilding a battered body that some believe was headed for the NRL scrapheap.

Burgess admits being left frustrated by a chronic hip injury that resulted in a steady decline in numbers over the past three years and reduced him to be a bit-part front-rower.

It was so bad, the English international was overlooked for the World Cup.

“A lot of people don’t know I’ve got an arthritic hip and for a young age, it’s not the best thing to have,” George told AAP.

“I’ve had surgeries, but you’re never really the same.”

But under the guidance of Seibold, Burgess believes he is now playing his best football since powering the Rabbitohs to an emotional breakthrough premiership in 2014.

At his lowest point, Burgess was averaging just 33 minutes a game last year.

However, when Seibold took over from Michael Maguire last September, he was so confident he could help Burgess rediscover his best that he handed him a one-year extension.

Almost 12 months on and the 26-year-old is punching out nearly 40 minutes a game – his highest input since undergoing surgery on both his hips and groins.

“I’ll have to manage it for the rest of my career. It’s something you do as a football player. You’re never as fresh as you were as when you started playing, so you’ve got to get smarter,” he said.

And that’s where Seibold came in.

“We altered some of my training in the pre-season, we changed a fair bit of my training. Not training on the field two days in a row helped a lot,” Burgess said.

“My hip was able to recover and I could do more training after that. That was a big key.”

Now as the Rabbitohs prepare for Saturday’s NRL preliminary final against the Roosters, Burgess is physically and mentally ready for another shot at a title.

“I knew within myself that if I get my body right and do the work there, I can get my form where I wanted it to be,” he said.

“It’s the best time of the year to be playing football.”