By all accounts, he’s a really confident young bloke. Ticks all the boxes at training. Loves the game. He’s only slight, but I understand he’s put on five kilos in the off-season and now weighs about 85 kilograms. But this is a huge ask. He can expect Sam Burgess to run at him all night. He can expect the Burgess twins, George and Tom, running at him all night. It doesn’t matter how much the Broncos players try to protect him, eventually Souths will get one on one with him, which will be a big test. Dearden will defend on the right and that’s the side the Bunnies love to attack. They will look for the quick play-the-ball and play off that. When that happens it means hooker Damien Cook can get going out of dummy half, which brings fullback Alex Johnston and, of course, five-eighth Cody Walker into play. This is what I spoke about two years ago after Origin II when NSW failed to exploit the shoulder injury Queensland playmaker Johnathan Thurston was carrying.

People said it was a simplistic way of looking at things. It’s not. You attack him and then you attack the gaps on either side of him. The players inside and outside him start trying to protect the vulnerable player. Then you manipulate the gaps either side. That’s what Souths will do with Dearden on Thursday night. If Nikorima does leave Brisbane next week to join the Warriors, as expected, Seibold will need to persist with Dearden. Again, that's a huge ask. If he’s going to complement the running game of five-eighth Anthony Milford, he’ll have to be the dominant player. Three or four years ago, he might have had pictures of Milford on his wall. Now he will be expected to push him around the field. I experienced the same thing at the Knights when I made my debut at the age of 19. I had to get out there and tell players like Paul Harragon and Mark Sargent where they had to be. I struggled to even do that at training. You don’t feel comfortable as a teenager bossing guys like that around.

To bring out the best in Milford, Dearden will have to organise and also do some of the kicking to free him up. I wish him well. Master class: Wayne Bennett holds court at Erskinville Oval on Wednesday. Credit:AAP Seibs v Benny Forget about the off-season coaching swap. The interesting thing about the two coaches is how different they are. Seibold is all about the technical side and science of the game. Bennett is the best man manager in the business, who keeps players happy and lets them play football. If you sat Wayne down and asked: “What percentage of you is man manager and effort?” I wonder what he would say. I’ll put a figure on it: 80 per cent.

He coached me in Australian teams a few times and he was sensational. He left me alone. “You boys take training,” he said to the senior players. He treats players like men ... until they step out of line! Time to go: Greg Inglis bids farewell to teammates. The Rabbitohs v Broncos clash will double as a farewell game the retired superstar. Credit:AAP The GI factor This match will have a lot of emotion around it because it also serves as a tribute to Greg Inglis, who has retired.

The crowd will be pumped for that reason alone. They also would’ve had this match marked in the diary for a while. So it will be interesting to see which team settles into the game the quickest and that’s where Souths have a big advantage because they have halfback Adam Reynolds. He’s the best kicker in the comp at the moment. He will kick early and find the rhythm Souths will be looking for. Brisbane need to respond to that. Last week, when they beat the injury-ravaged Sharks, they finally got some yardage out of their forwards with Payne Haas, Matt Lodge, and Tevita Pangai jnr all running for 150 metres each. With space, Milford then played his best game this year. Souths, however, have a lot of improvement still in them. They have been in third gear in the past month, doing enough to win. I’m not sure how accurate the talk about James Roberts joining them mid-season is, but if they get “Jimmy the Jet” they will be a certain premiership threat.

Great Briton: Sam Burgess is the best Englishman to have played in Australia. Credit:AAP Player to watch Sam Burgess is 30 years old and he's done it all: but he’s getting better and better with age. He’d be a champion in any era. When you talk about Souths’ best forwards, he’d have to be up there with legends like John Sattler and John O’Neill. He is, without doubt, the best English import this country has seen for the past 30 years, probably since my old Knights coach Malcolm Reilly played at Manly. I put Sam ahead of Adrian Morley, who was incredible for the Roosters in his time. Sam leads from the front. He is the leader of that team and the club. You can see it. Against Penrith last week, he made about three tackles on the line that saved tries. He puts his body on the line with every tackle and every carry.

Key play: How the Rabbitohs will pressure you Brisbane half Tom Dearden. Joey's playbook Souths scored this try against Penrith where they have players in motion close to the line and then they isolate the halfback. Last week, it was Nathan Cleary. This time, it will be Tom Dearden. Cody Walker will go to the line and, at the last minute, Kyle Turner will run a block play for Alex Johnston out the back. Johnston will be calling for the ball and that will keep James Roberts interested. Instead, Walker will hit Turner, which gets him one on one with the halfback. When it’s done 10 metres out from the try line, and when it’s done right, it’s very hard to stop.