Burgess, along with halves Adam Reynolds and Luke Keary, starred for South Sydney as the Rabbitohs big man made a welcomed return from a shoulder injury.

He finished with a match high 231 running metres from 22 runs, while he topped the tackle count for his side with 34, in a game-altering 74-minute performance.

Burgess has warned his teammates to not become overawed with the result despite the victory taking South Sydney to within two points of the top-placed Sea Eagles and within striking distance of their first minor premiership since 1989.

“We aren’t getting carried away with anything,” Burgess said. “It’s good to get the win. We’ll just try and build on that.

“The game was physical. We knew it was going to be. The players they’ve got they like to play a tough physical game. I enjoyed the game. I enjoyed the battle.

“[It was] more pleasing with the defensive effort. We did well. We have a lot to offer as a team [but we have] a long way to go.

“We aren’t getting carried away. It doesn’t count for a great deal except for the leader board. We have to keep our feet on the ground. We have quite a long schedule into a Thursday night game.”

Burgess indicated that the hype surrounding their teams performances in recent years may have been a distraction at times. South Sydney have been bundled out of the competition one game shy of the grand final in the past two seasons.

Burgess said the side was better placed this time around,

“We are a bit calmer,” Burgess said. “Whatever happens, happens. We just got beaten by more experienced and better teams that time of year. We’ve learnt from things.

“If you look too far ahead you get caught up. We are just trying to take it week by week. We are going to enjoy the next bit of time together. I’m enjoying every day and trying to keep learning.”

South Sydney have now scored 73 points in their past two games after a heavy defeat of Newcastle last week. More impressively, they’ve conceded three tries in the past fortnight as they extend their winning streak to four.

The Rabbitohs looked to have overcome a mid-year dip in form when they lost games to North Queensland and Gold Coast before going on their winning run.

“We weren’t great those two weeks,” Burgess said. “They had a lot of energy and out-enthused us. Our main focus is recovery and our next game. The finals will come around at their own time. We just have to keep working on our own game.

“The guys were pretty humble.”

South Sydney's only injury concern is back-rower Kyle Turner (concussion) who didn’t return after 28 minutes. They host Brisbane when Thursday night football returns.

Meanwhile, Manly are sweating on the fitness of centre Steve Matai who lasted just seven minutes before coming from the field with a shoulder injury.