Senior players Sam Burgess and John Sutton have said that they expect the team to step up and put in better performances heading into the second half of the season.
Coming off a bye week, Sutton is keen to rip in this week in the Rabbitohs Round 14 clash against the Brisbane Broncos on Friday night.
“I think everybody is feeling a bit refreshed now,” explained Sutton.
“We just got to step up now and have a better half of the season.
“I’m looking forward to ripping in this week and putting a better performance in.”
Burgess has backed Sutton’s views describing how each player has individual responsibilities in order for the team to lift and ultimately come together and transfer Michael Maguire’s coaching plan onto the field.
“His message has been very clear and direct and now it’s certainly our responsibility as a playing group to carry that onto the field on the weekend,” Burgess said.
“There are a few things that we are working on structurally and just really simple individual things that we can get better at.
“Everyone in the team can improve in some areas. That’s been a key focus, individually just looking at your own game and seeing what you can bring to the game.”
Burgess has expressed their drive to turn the season around and crack the top eight which he explains is not too far out of reach due to a small number of points separating the teams on the leader board.
“We would rather be in the top half of the table than the bottom half but I think what’s in our favour too is that the table is very tight, it’s not blown apart, the separation between the top eight and bottom eight.”
On top of their urge to bring out their best performances individually and as a team, Burgess, who has confidence in his side, is also making sure they are enjoying the game of rugby league.
“We’ve got a team of committed players that are focused on turning the season around.
“We are focused on working hard and improving and having some fun around training and enjoying what we are doing.”
View the full interview with Burgess in the video player above.
