'Tom pinched it from him': Inside story of Burgess' match-winning moment

The call was in. The hands were up. The right boot at the ready.

Adam Reynolds' 23rd NRL field goal – which would be the most of any current player – loomed on the fourth tackle.

A two-pointer had already been nailed from 40-plus metres out, a penalty and follow-up drop punt hooked one way, then sprayed the other.

Reynolds had already had not one crack, but two.

Watch the replay of what proves the last play in a madcap 81 minutes though and it's clear. This is still meant to be Reynolds' moment, not Tom Burgess's.

"That was the plan," Souths hooker Damien Cook told pan66.com.

"Reyno's shown that anywhere inside the 50 he's pretty good at knocking them over.

"He was calling it and it was on, he gets set nice and early most times and he was ready on that play. But Tom got in before him. It opened up a bit for him and the big fella pinched it from him."

Burgess's 30-metre charge through a gallant but weary Wests Tigers frontline stole the show, sealing a stunning 18-14 Rabbitohs comeback in the most dramatic fashion.

So much so Burgess, just like 16,134 fans on hand and hundreds of thousands more watching at home, couldn't believe his luck when he marched into the backfield.

"It doesn’t happen as a front-rower because you’re usually running into a brick wall," Burgess said.

"They were worried about the drop-goal so they took their eyes off me for a second. Cookie, my little mate, he hit me.

"I thought he was going to do his old beach sprint run, but luckily he hit me. It was the right play."

With Burgess packing almost 40 extra kilos on Tigers fullback Daine Laurie, and bearing down at a rate of knots, the British bookend "shimmied around him" rather than straight through the diminutive No.1.

Burgess carried Luciano Leilua, and then David Nofoaluma on his back and backed his fingertip touch on the Steeden to get the Bunker's backing for a legitimate, match-winning try.

Even as Luke Brooks was scooping up the ball and running 105 metres for what would have been the Tigers own fabled four-pointer, with referee Gerard Sutton trailing and eventually awarding Brooks' effort as the decision went upstairs.

"I looked at him [Sutton] and he was about to blow the whistle," Brooks said.

"I thought I may as well pick it up and give it a go."

Josh Mansour's agonisingly confused face on the sideline said it all as the video officials wound through each painstaking replay.

Rabbitohs all over were wary given Burgess's form in this department.

"Tommy's got a bad reputation or slam-dunking his tries and poor [captain's] challenges," Cook confirmed afterwards.

"He’s done that about four times for us in the last two years, and every time it’s been no try and he’s carried on like they were tries," coach Wayne Bennett smirked in his press conference.

But for Burgess, never in doubt. Mostly.

"When you do it, you know if you get that downward pressure," he said.

"But you never know. I’ve had them disallowed before, but I was pretty confident in that one.

"My heart was definitely beating when they went down the other end and scored, but I just had to have faith.

"I knew that I got it down for a split second, and that’s all you need these days.

"The boys were all celebrating so they sold it well. I was pretty confident. I had faith in the Bunker."

Now there's a quote for a king-sized moment.