Off-contract Souths prop Tom Bugress has now played 10 seasons with the club, but he wants to be a part of something special that is building at Redfern for at least another year in 2024.
The 30-year-old came to Souths in 2013 and won a title in his second season with the club and with no outside players recruited last season, he senses something special in the next couple of seasons.
The only real change at Souths form last year is the return of Burgess’ brother Sam to the coaching staff and it has only given the veteran prop more reason to hang around.
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“I would love to stay with Souths,” Burgess told foxsports.com.au.
“I have been here for 10 years now. It’s my last year on contract, but I’m pretty confident we can get something organised and get a new deal sorted, whether it is a year or two I am pretty keen to stay.”
The return of brother Sam as part of Souths’ coaching staff has Burgess feeling excited and nostalgic ahead of his 11th season with the club.
The pair won a premiership together in 2014 and Burgess revealed it has been like old times having his big brother back at Redfern.
“It is great on a personal note to have my brother back,” Burgess said.
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“I missed him a bit last year being away quite a lot of the year coaching the Orara Valley Axemen.
“It is great to have him around more, but then coming into work every day and seeing my brother here brings back a lot of great memories when I first moved to Australia when we lived together.
“He is on the coaching staff now, so he has got to keep me in line, but it is pretty similar to when he was a player.
“He always looked out for me and mentored me, so I feel like he is doing a similar role for me, but he is just not out on the field with us anymore.
“I’m sure he would love to, but his body is not there now, but it is great to have him back and I think he is going to add a lot to our team with his leadership and his mindset as well.”
Souths have not recruited a single player since last season and Burgess believes it is a sign the club are doing the right things in terms of their juniors and development programs.
“It is quite a rare thing to have no outside players recruited,” Burgess said.
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“I think it shows where we are at as a club. We have juniors coming through.
“It is really pleasing to see that we have been able to promote those younger players into the top 30.
“There is some great players coming through and I’ll name Davvy Moale as one. He has had a little taste of the first team and he is in my position, but he is a great player and still very young and raring to go.
“I’m looking forward to seeing him get more of a regular spot this year in the 17, whether he is starting off the bench and he will add a lot to our team when he gets his chance.”
Souths are coming off a fifth straight preliminary final, but have yet to win a first title since 2014, but Burgess believes the club is not far away from breaking the drought.
“We’ve realised we are not far off and we are doing a lot of things right,” Burgess said.
“We need to keep doing those things right and when we do those things right we are up their with the best.
“We have had a couple of battles with Penrith the last three years. The last three years we have played Penrith and had our last game against them.
“The last step for us is probably coming together and getting that connection as players and we have been building that.
“We recently went down to Richmond Tigers and did a little bit of a leadership camp down there.
“They were in a similar position going close and then won three out of four years.
“One thing we took from them was that openness and connection throughout the team and people being comfortable and confident in their role.”
