Rabbitohs skipper Greg Inglis says being given the captaincy of his club at the start of 2015, while a huge honour, provided a host of distractions that took some time to adapt to.
Inglis is also just emerging from a gruelling six-week Origin campaign, in which he starred at fullback in Queensland's stunning 52-6 avalanche win in the decider at Suncorp last week.
Inglis entered the interstate series in questionable form and emerged from it looking like the same world-beater that helped carry the Rabbitohs to a drought-breaking premiership win last year after a devastating display in his preferred fullback role in the absence of Billy Slater for the Origin decider, with a try, a try assist, two line breaks and 152 metres.
Speaking at the SCG ahead of his club's Men of League Heritage Round clash with old rivals the Dragons on Saturday night, Inglis said it had taken him a while to get his head around the captaincy at the start of the year after being appointed to take over from John Sutton.
"I think probably with the captaincy at the start of the year I was looking at different ways to approach the game and that just isn't me," Inglis said.
"I like to sit back and relax and really love what I do and that is play footy.
"Over the last few months I have just sat back and not really thought about what goes on in the outside world, just bunkered down and concentrate on what I wanted to do."
Inglis said it wasn't so much a case of being too intense as worrying about all the other extraneous things going on outside of his own game that he wasn't used to.
"When it first got handed to me I was really happy about it, I was stoked but then I probably just went about, it thought about it in different ways and worried about too many different things around the club," he said.
After the Rabbitohs had helped him manage his workload over the intense Origin period Inglis was hoping to repay the club return to their winning ways after two defeats in their past three games.
"They just gave me five days off [after Origin III]. I'm feeling mentally fresh and the body is feeling good too," he said.
"Origin is done and dusted now and I can concentrate on Souths
"There is no easy game from here on in, there are only eight weeks left and we need to find that consistency over the next few weeks.
"Now I have found in the last few months that if I just put all that aside and just concentrate on myself and what I can bring to the team."
Inglis was looking forward to a big game at the SCG on Saturday night against a Dragons side boosted by the return of NSW Origin fullback Josh Dugan as well as halfback Benji Marshall and back-rower Joel Thompson.
"That's what you want to do in this great game, [play] at a great ground and play against the best players. It is going to be a really good game," he said.
