I watched that game last night. Burgess scored two good tries, looked more confident and held up OK in defence, in particular on one occasion doing well to escape his own in-goal after a shrewd attacking kick. Hardly got a pass in the second half, though, and blotted his copy-book a little with a wild Hail-Mary forward pass, but that was his only error, and I'm sure he feels much better about his performances now. And, to be fair, I've been slagging the Rabbitohs off all season, but they did look much-improved all over the park in every area, especially their attack. If Reynolds is a long-term casualty,though, obviously they will miss him.

Not an English star [iper se[/i, but of course I was also interested to watch Tommy Leuluai for the Warriors, as he's on his way back to Wigan. Another very solid performance, alternating between the halves and dummy half. Led the direction of attack well, always prepared on occasion to take the defensive line on himself, and set up a try when one of his trademark big hits dislodged the ball and gave his side possession yards from the opposing line.

Thanks to Samuel, George, Thomas, and Joseph, the name Burgess has become synonymous with British quality in Australian rugby league circles. Rather like the name Rolls Royce.

A future player with the family name Burgess would get special attention if he ever sought a position in the NRL in the future.

It's a pity all the burgess brothers have been crap this season

Fingers crossed for Luke then.

Joseph "Budgie" Burgess had an absolute cracker of a game on Friday night in Sydney. He scored two tries, the first of which being when he picked up a ball dropped by Canterbury on the South Sydney 20 metre line, and raced 80 metres to score, with Brett Morris chasing him but to no avail. The Australian commentators were ecstatic. They referred to his great length of stride, and how Michael McGuire was excitedly "riding him" all the way from the coaches box. They referred to his great haul of tries for Wigan in 2015, and how he made the Super League Dream Team in 2015. Then Joseph scored his second try in the 79th minute: Cody Miller kicked high into the Canterbury corner, and Joseph with his right arm outstretched, caught the ball high behind him while running, and then brought it down to his chest as he dived over the line to score a beautiful try.

What a pity Joseph Burgess is returning to Wigan. I am sure that South Sydney would like to keep him. If he stayed Joseph "Budgie" Burgess could become one of the star non-Fijian wingers of the NRL, and one of the five best English wingers ever to play in Australia or New Zealand.

Hodgson man of the match again for the Raiders today as they finish second on the ladder. Unbelievable how much of an improved polished player he looks. probably the best 9 in the world right now alongside Cam Smith, bodes well for England.

If Bennett doesn't look at Hodkinson or similar, I'd be sorely tempted to play Hodgson at 7. I can't think of a SL 7 who would do better, which is a damning indictment.

Yeah why not? He has the game for it.

Whitehead was awesome too. His combination with Leilua and Rapana have made the Raiders right edge the most dangerous in the NRL, by some way.

Yes, it's a treat to watch them these days. That pass round the back from Leilua!

Could be an option. Would allow us to get another one of our top hookers in the team and we certainly wouldn't have to hide one of the halves in defence with Hodgson.

He'll have to learn how to defend 3rd man from the edge, it's a pretty hard position to defend in. Otherwise a great shout to play him there.

Hodgson's biggest problem in defence is the occasional brain fart leading to him rushing out of the line. He misses the odd tackle as he's a smaller hooker, but as a halfback he'd probably be a better defender than any other option. Given the paucity of options at fullback I'd also be tempted to go the whole hog and pick Widdopp there.

So who would be number 6? Samuel Tomkins from Wigan?