South Sydney coach Anthony Siebold is confident recent results in Cairns will not be a factor when the Rabbitohs host the Cowboys at Barlow Park on Sunday.

The Bunnies are chasing eight consecutive wins in a regular season for the first time since 1989 but have lost their previous two clashes with North Queensland at Barlow Park.

Siebold's men are playing much like Souths' 2014 premiership-winning side and have an opportunity to bury suggestions of a Cairns curse.

Their last defeat came in April against the Broncos in Round 8.

"There's no point reflecting on the previous couple of games in Cairns," Siebold said in Cairns on Saturday.

"I know they'll be desperate, they've had a good record against the Rabbitohs in recent seasons. We understand it's going to be a big challenge for us.

"We have a simple focus and our next job is the most important. We reset when everyone came back from representative teams."

Siebold indicated all representative players were likely to play – including Burgess brothers Tom and Sam – who were most affected with their trip to Denver last weekend.

"We've had disrupted preparation but deliberately gave them time off," Siebold said.

"The back end of the week has been really smooth."

Souths are second on the NRL ladder with an 11-4 record, while the Cowboys - a popular preseason tip to win the premiership - are languishing in 13th spot with just four wins from 15 games.

Sunday's game will almost certainly be the last official meeting on a rugby league field between long-time friends and former Queensland Origin teammates Greg Inglis and Johnathan Thurston, with Thurston retiring at the end of the season.