South Sydney skipper Greg Inglis is taking a more relaxed approach to the Rabbitohs captaincy this year as he attempts to return the NRL title to Redfern.

By his own admission Inglis struggled with the demands of the captaincy last year as Souths endured a forgettable end to their premiership defence, losing five of their last six matches.

But Inglis has been working overtime in the off season and is approaching his leadership role with greater confidence in 2016.

“It was only heavy on me last year because I let it get heavy,” he told AAP on Monday at Fox Sports’ season launch.

“It won’t be so full-on this year, because I won’t let it be. It was my first year as fulltime captain and I learnt a lot of things from last year, I am still learning and working on myself to be a better leader on the field this year.

“I have been working behind the scenes on my leadership skills, there are things everyone can work on and mine has obviously been my leadership.”

Sam Burgess’ return to Redfern brings more leadership support to the club for Inglis.

“Having Sam back is great,” Inglis said.

“He brings a lot as a leader.”

Souths suffered a downward spiral of form at the pointy end of last season before they were bundled out of the premiership race in an elimination final loss to Cronulla as Inglis battled a knee injury amid talk of disharmony under coach Michael Maguire

“We just didn’t perform at the end of last year, it was as simple as that,” Inglis said.

“We were out of form. But that was then and we have it all in front of us now. It has been a good pre-season, the knee is fine and we are good to go.

“It is a happy place to be.”