South Sydney Rabbitohs

On that occasion, Burgess was taken off after 31 minutes, passed his HIA check and started the second half in a tight 24-18 win.

On Thursday, Burgess reeled out of a collision with Roosters back-rower Isaac Liu in which the Rabbitohs lock – while attempting to tackle Liu – collected the Rooster's shoulder on his jaw.

In this Shick Preview, these two neighbours from opposite sides of Anzac Parade have been going at it since 1908 and while in more recent years they have kicked off regular NRL seasons with mouth-watering Round 1 clashes, the advantage to this Round 4 meeting is each side has had a chance to feel their way into the season.

The Bunnies have hit back strongly after a dour Round 1 loss to Wests Tigers, putting Manly to the sword at Lottoland then edging past a gritty Knights outfit at McDonald Jones Stadium last week.

George Burgess was charged with a grade two striking charge and will miss two matches. 

Hymel Hunt was charged with a grade two reckless high tackle charge and will miss four matches.

It's no secret the NSW Origin No.9 had his attacking licence revoked during an unhappy final spell at the Wests Tigers but the past fortnight has seen Farah begin to show that along with halves Cody Walker and Adam Reynolds, fellow Souths dummy-half Cook and now-fullback Alex Johnston the club has the makings of a slick spine.

The Rabbitohs conceded three tries in the opening 12 minutes against the Sea Eagles but managed to turn it around to secure a morale-boosting win on the road. 

After blowing Manly away late in a runaway 38-18 win at Lottoland on Saturday afternoon, the two best pieces of news for Souths fans were the reinvigorated forward pack – which seemed to benefit from the return of George Burgess despite one costly error – and the immediate spark generated between fullback Alex Johnston, five-eighth Cody Walker, halfback Adam Reynolds and dummy-half pair Robbie Farah and Damien Cook. 

Matthews was taken from ANZ Stadium on a medi-cab after being caught in an awkward tackle seven minutes from half-time.

It's a cruel blow for Matthews who was coming off his best season since making his NRL debut in 2008.

The injury is the latest setback for the Dragons who are also dealing with a casualty ward that includes Drew Hutchison (knee) and Yaw Kiti Glymin (shoulder) who are both expected to be out long term.

"He's got a dislocated hip, unfortunately. It's something that's come out of the game that's terrible," McGregor said after the game.

Farah added spice to his new side's NRL season-opener against the Tigers by making it clear there was still lingering resentment between him and coach Jason Taylor.

Addressing his tumultuous exit from Concord for the first time, he described his time under Taylor as "unhappy."

He had a chance to publicly extend an olive branch to Taylor, who won a power struggle to force out the NSW State of Origin rake, however refused to comment on their relationship.

‌"I'm not going to talk about that, to be honest that's in the past," Farah said.

An explosive hooker, Cook joined the Rabbitohs in October of 2015 and went on to represent the Rabbitohs 17 times in 2016. He made 462 tackles, 15 offloads and was handy with his boot – kicking seven goals and 21 times in open play for 554 kick metres.

Rabbitohs coach Michael Maguire was happy with Cook's decision to remain in the Red & Green until the end of season 2019. Maguire pointed to Cook's professionalism and growth as a football player as signs that a big future lies ahead for Damien Cook.

Gosiewski, 22, made his NRL debut in the Round 10 victory over the Parramatta Eels and went on to play five first grade matches in 2016.