There is going to be plenty said about Sam Burgess’ return to the NRL in the coming days – but who is going to make way for him at South Sydney and where will they go?

The Rabbitohs were quick to remind everyone they’ll be without Issac Luke and Glen Stewart next season.

But they also re-signed a lot of they young talent, including George and Thomas Burgess, Aaron Gray, Alex Johnson, Chris Grevsmuhl, Luke Keary, Cameron McInnes, Adam Reynolds, Kyle Turner – along with former Bulldogs hooker Damien Cook.

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The only significant players who are off contract are Kirisome Auva’a, Joel Reddy and Daryl Millard – so even if they all remained unsigned, there won’t be a lot of money freed up.

Most NRL fans would agree, you can’t offer a player $1.5 million a season without shuffling the deck.

So who can Souths afford to lose?

It’s been suggested centre Dylan Walker will go. But that’s not inline with Souths’ preference of retaining their young talent – and South Sydney CEO John Lee said Walker won’t be forced out.

Prop Tim Grant and second row Chris McQueen are two names that have been thrown around – and with good reason.

McQueen’s hasn’t been able to recapture the form that saw him represent Queensland in State of Origin, while Grant was brought in specifically to fill the void Burgess left in the Rabbitohs’ forward pack.



With the Rabbitohs’ horde of re-signed young and talented players, both Grant and McQueen could find themselves on the way out.

So where would they go?

I imagine the Newcastle Knights will be closely looking at one or both of them.

The Knights are looking to make another big name signing to bolster their forward pack, which was a sore point for the wooden spooners this season.

Newly appointed coach Nathan Brown has indicated the Knights aren’t interested in Robbie Farah.

“We are looking across the board whether it be a front rower [or] an edge back-rower,” Brown said this week.

“We are under the cap and we have a little bit of money available.”

Brown said the “money has to be right” – which is another box both players tick.



Grant is reportedly on $350,000 a year, while McQueen is on $300,000.

A new coach and new team could be exactly what Grant or McQueen need to recapture the form, which at it’s peak, saw them among the elite players in their position.

So Roarers, who is going to leave and where are they going to go?