THE Rabbitohs may well cop a please explain from the NRL after Sam Burgess played on with a concussion that later forced him out of their loss to the Roosters, yet still managed to deliver a halftime speech in the middle of it all.

Burgess appeared dazed after coming off second best from an attempted big hit on Isaac Liu in the 37th minute of the Bunnies 20-6 loss to their archrivals.

But despite gaining the attention of the trainer, he took his place in Souths’ defensive line and played on for another two minutes, until he was replaced 10 seconds before halftime.

At that stage he was taken off for a head injury assessment (HIA), with his brother Tom entering the game via a free interchange for the last few seconds before the halftime siren sounded.

Round 19

Watch the incident in the video player above and take in vision of his halftime speech below.

This week the game’s governing body whacked the Knights, Titans and Dragons with fines totalling $350,000 for alleged breaches of concussion protocols — with all three clubs indicating they will contest the notices.

The delay in getting Burgess off the park wasn’t where the intrigue ended, with Fox Sports showing vision of the South Sydney skipper giving a passionate speech to his troops in the sheds during the break.

It’s not clear whether this was before or after the testing had been undertaken by the Rabbitohs’ medico, but when he was ruled out of the second half after the 10 minute testing period had elapsed the whole chain of events started to appear farcical.

As part of the NRL’s weekly reviews every HIA is assessed at the end of each weekend.

Burgess was well enough to attend the post-match press conference, where he and coach Michael Maguire explained the Rabbitohs handling of the incident, as well as another HIA involving centre Siosifa Talakai, who returned to the field after passing his concussion test.

“Sammy was obviously concussed there, and the assessments were made and I think he came off after they assessed and had an understanding of what went on on the sideline,” Maguire told the press.

Sam Burgess stays down with a head knock against Roosters. Picture: Gregg Porteous Source: News Corp Australia

“And we checked him again at halftime and the doctor said he won’t be going back out, so that was the call.”

The English captain has come out in support of the game’s tougher stance on concussion rules in recent weeks, and accepted the call by club medicos.

He was also taken from the field in last week’s defeat of Newcastle, and believed this was a factor in the decision to rule him out of Friday’s second half.

“I felt alright on the field but the medical staff, after reviewing the footage, thought I should leave the field. I followed their instruction and then unfortunately failed the test at half time,” Burgess said.

“It’s there to protect the players so it’s disappointing but it’s what we have to do now as players.”

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