Rabbits beating Manly 42-12, does this surprise you even though there werent all the stars available, i seen this on fox sports news and apparently, i know you think i am going on about him, but they called it a "performance to get rabbitohs fans excited", they said burgess absolutely toyed with manly and run amok scoring a try and setting up another, does it surprise you though that they did it so easy even though all the stars weren't there, or are you not surprised or are you not really reading into it at all?

The Warriors season last year springs to mind straight away.

The Warriors won all three trial matches, their first two premiership matches and then it all went pear-shaped from there.

Trial matches are a lottery at times - it depends almost solely on what the teams have been doing for pre-season training. Not the class of the teams. Some teams will be very rusty, others will not. Clearly Manly were rustier than the Rabbits, but they'll be better off for the hitout.

But that is why they have trial matches; to get the rustiness out of the system before the season proper begins, so that during the season the relative class of the two teams is what influences the result, not the fact that one has not blown out the cobwebs.

Like every other year. They win their trials, they win the Charity Shield, everyone thinks they will win the premiership, they lose the next 10 games, then go on a 3 game winning streak, and you guessed it everyone thinks they will win the premiership again, then they lose the rest of the games and dont make the 8, so they sign some new players and it all starts over again, everyone thinks they will win the premiership... lol It just gets boring.

Not saying that you're saying this but it is true. And I expected this from Burgess, he is a star player there is no doubt about it. Its just a shame he doesnt have the fullback, hooker or halves to make the most of his talent. He and Taylor will be the only players keeping this team from getting the spoon- the rest of their players are pathetic.

This game was played by u20 players for both teams. Besides a few Souths players with a little first grade experience and Sam Burgess (I don't know how many Manly players had experience wise). There was a lot of raw talent out there playing in pretty terrible conditions. It is a good test to see where depth is at and where possible future first graders can come from. Other than that it was just an exhibition match that means very little. The Charity Shield would be a better indicator as both teams will be fielding close to first grade teams, where this wasn't even close.
Bring on Round 1.

I'm not really surprised .. I don't place much stock in trial matches as a general rule, particularly when (as you said) all the stars weren't available, but it was a big win for Souths.

I can't help wondering why Burgess played for 20 minutes, when he's supposed to be playing for the All Stars on Saturday night.

To gain some NRL experience, perhaps?
Souths fans, don't order the Grand Final champagne just yet, there's a long way to go!!

As others have said, winning trial matches doesn't mean much. It's important for coaches to get a feel for players in certain positions to see how they go, so the scoreline isn't important.

However, seeing Burgess in action is probably a good thing for Rabbitohs fans.

I like the Bunnies but it is only a trial game. The results are meaningless and no notice should be taken of them. See how the teams perform in round 1.

Yeah Knights has got it again. Thats why he is the man

Look as a Tigers fan - whenever we go on a winning streak we dont get all this premiership crap (maybe its cos we won one in 2005 I dont know) but if the Bunnies win a few everyone goes ape! Good on em but it doesnt mean much to me.

Any trial matches and even the first 3-4 games of the year are the teams getting their fitness and skills back into the swing. Nothing more to me really so if the Bunnies beat the Storm at full strength I still would just say its not of much significance.

And Burgess>? Lets wait and see. Hype usually puts a curse on the player. Look at Hayne - he was in the papers EVERY day and how did he play in that GF?? He went M.I.A. for Parra.