May 18th, 2017

May 18th, 2017

South Sydney players are shocked to learn of Greg Inglis's plight, but remain confident they haven't seen the last of their superstar captain in Rabbitohs colours.

"He'll be back," stand-in captain Sam Burgess said on Thursday, after Inglis checked himself into a mental health clinic last week.

Sidelined since round one with a season-ending knee injury, Inglis alerted teammates two days ago that he was suffering from depression.

Winger Bryson Goodwin, who lost a brother just months ago to suicide, said Inglis's revelation hit hard.

"He's obviously been away a bit with his injury so, yeah, it was a big surprise to most of us," Goodwin said.

"It's a funny thing because he looked like he was alright.

"It's probably not until you speak to someone that you really find out the details or (until) they go and find some help themselves.

"It's a sad thing to see, but hopefully he'll come out the other side and be all good.

"We're all supporting him here at Souths."

Inglis is contracted to the Rabbitohs until the end of 2019, but the father of two's latest setback, coupled with the fact that his wife's family is in Brisbane, will inevitably prompt speculation about his future at the club.

Burgess believes Inglis will remain at Redfern and applauded the 30-year-old's decision to seek professional help.

"He's probably where he wants to be at the moment," Burgess said.

"Who knows what he's feeling like at the moment. That's why it's important that we all be careful in how much we prod and poke around it.

"It's best to leave him, give him the time and space he needs and, when he comes out, hopefully he'll see the support and love he's got by thousands of people around the country."

Inglis is the latest high-profile player to seek professional care after the battles of Mitchell Pearce, Kieran Foran and Ben Barba over the past 12 months.

"There is a common theme there. A few players have had some tough times," Burgess said.

"I'm not sure exactly what it is.

"Mental health's a big issue and not just in sport, but across the population in Australia, across the world.

"So it's something we all need to probably do a little bit more research on, find a little bit more about and be open about it as friends, teammates, brothers, sisters, uncles, aunties, whoever it is who might be going through that tough time.

"People forget sometimes that athletes are human beings too and hold the same feelings as you do as well.

"We're trained to cope with things but, at the end of the day, we are humans and feelings are going to be felt and that could be the case with some of the players mentioned."

©AAP2017