South Sydney Rabbitohs captain Greg Inglis is ready to do what he does best after a challenging week on and off the field, according to coach Anthony Seibold.
Inglis will be suiting up in the No.3 jersey on Saturday night at ANZ Stadium after getting the all-clear after suffering a concussion in last weekend's loss to the Penrith Panthers.
Insult was added to injury in the form of an alleged racial taunt from a spectator at the match and Seibold had kept a close eye on his skipper during the week to ensure he was able to take on the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles.
"Greg's really good, he trained yesterday. They had no concerns in and around the HIA [head injury assessment] issue that he had against Penrith," Seibold said on Friday morning.
"It's been a pretty challenging week for him off the field but he's really excited to get back out there and again improve from what he's shown in the first couple of games.
"I've spoken a couple of times individually with Greg to make sure he was okay. He's been business as usual and Greg's looking forward to getting back out there and doing what he does best and that's play footy."
Souths are still searching for their first victory of the Telstra Premiership season but one of the bright spots for the winless Rabbitohs has been rookie Junior Tatola.
He was "shocked" to be told by Seibold he'd be suiting up against the Warriors in round one and is now desperate to repay the coach's faith with some consistent football.
The former Berala Bears junior – who came up through the junior ranks at Balmain then the Wests Tigers – achieved Junior Kangaroos honours in 2016 before a ligament injury in his foot rubbed him out for the rest of the season.
Despite averaging only 27 minutes in his first two outings, he's notched 74 metres and 20 tackles per game.
"I was really surprised when Seebs (Seibold) told me I was going to make my debut in the 17, really shocked," he said.
"Once he told me I was just speechless, I couldn't believe it, I couldn't wait to tell my parents."
Tatola said the decision to move to Redfern was about opportunity and what was best for his family.
"[Seibold] told me to come over here, train hard, go hard in pre-season," he added.
"He told me he's all about efforts. I pride myself on efforts in my game, I try to do the little things, the one percenters so I tried to work my butt off in pre-season and it's got me here so far."
Tatola is keeping more experienced players like Jason Clark and utility forward Kyle Turner out of the side.
"I think I've adjusted [to first grade] pretty well, I just want to keep learning every day to make my game better, help the team out," he said.
"I'm trying to learn off the experienced boys, all the boys actually but mainly in the forwards, trying to learn off Tom and Sammy [Burgess].
"I think the team's going good, we just need to be a bit more ruthless with our defence, stay in the game, stay in the grind. Overall, the boys, the effort is there, everyone's doing a great job, we've had a good week leading into this weekend against Manly."
