No 'bad blood' for Lowe ahead of return to old stomping ground

South Sydney back-rower Ethan Lowe insists he has no beef with the Cowboys ahead of the Rabbitohs' trip to North Queensland on Saturday.

Lowe was questioned by reporters in April amid speculation several Cowboys players had lost faith in coach Paul Green.

The rumours were inevitably linked to the 2019 Origin debutant, who left the Townsville-based club after six years and joined Souths.

The 28-year-old emphatically denied he had anything to do with the innuendo and re-iterated his stance on Tuesday.

"No, not at all. I still talk to the boys up there and had a good chat to Morgo (Michael Morgan) and Moosey (Josh McGuire) in [Queensland] camp," Lowe said.

"There's no bad blood on my side. Obviously I want to win for the team and Rabbitohs. I know what I'm capable of and I've moved on and they've moved on so it's all good.

"It was home for six years so it will be good to catch up with friends around town."

Lowe turned heads following his Origin III heroics with four goals and 52 tackles, but the performance didn't surprise one person – himself.

The Goondiwindi local has been on the cusp of representative honours for years but was stuck behind a formidable Maroons forward pack during a dominant Origin era.

He was rested for the Rabbitohs' round 17 21-20 win over Manly due to a heavy workload but will now be handed the task of replacing Sam Burgess in the back-row for at least the next fortnight.

"Wayne has looked after me and give me a few days off," Lowe said.

"It was a tough one, I was more than happy to put my hand up and play if I was needed but Wayne said it was all good and I wasn't needed this week.

"I always believed I was capable of performing at [Origin] level and was able to get the chance and took it with both hands and did my job, which was the main thing.

"It was a physical, fast game and I was pretty tired."

Lowe said his selection for the Maroons could be put down to Bennett and Rabbitohs assistant coach Jason Demetriou, who helped lure him to Redfern when his career was at a crossroads in North Queensland.

"He was a major factor, coached me at Townsville and got the ball rolling to get me down here," Lowe said of Demetriou. 

"Him and Wayne have basically said we know what you're capable of and they have the faith in me to go out there and get it done.

"Sometimes that's all it takes, is someone to have that confidence in you to give you that belief. I look forward to repaying them."