Sam Burgess' second-coming at South Sydney has been pushed back another week with the Rabbitohs set to rest the dual international for this weekend's Charity Shield.
The Rabbitohs' huge off-season signing won't take the field against St George Illawarra at ANZ Stadium on Saturday night, and is likely to make his first appearance in South Sydney colours this season in the trial against the Gold Coast Titans on February 20.
Burgess, who returns to the club he led to premiership glory in 2014 after a brief stint in rugby union with England, hasn't had a full pre-season under his belt.
Rabbitohs coach Michael Maguire wants to give Burgess an extra week's preparation and is set to use him in the club's final trial of the preseason against the Titans at Pizzey Park on the Gold Coast before unleashing him against the Sydney Roosters in the opening round of the season.
Another notable absentee from the South Sydney line-up will be winger Alex Johnston, who picked up a shoulder injury at the weekend's NRL Auckland Nines.
Fairfax Media understands the injury isn't as bad as initially feared with Johnston likely to take his place in the Rabbitohs starting side for the match against the Roosters on Sunday, March 6.
Johnston's injury has forced the Rabbitohs flyer to withdraw from this Saturday night's exhibition match between the Indigenous All Stars and World All Stars at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday.
Teammate Chris Grevsmuhl was also ruled out of the match for the indigenous side after picking up a leg injury in the lead up to the Nines tournament.
The South Sydney pair were replaced by Cronulla's David Fifita and Penrith's Leilani Latu.
David joins brother Andrew, who has been shifted into the starting line-up, with Sam Thaiday moving to the back row. Canberra winger Edrick Lee also gets a start in place of Johnston.
The World All Stars also suffered a loss with Warriors fullback Roger Tuivasa-Sheck pulling out of the match after picking up a calf strain at Eden Park, allowing club teammate Konrad Hurrell to come into Wayne Bennett's World All Stars team.
Brisbane's Jordan Kahu will likely shift to fullback off an extended bench to cover the loss of Tuivasa-Sheck in the Suncorp Stadium fixture.
Tuivasa-Sheck is the second Warriors player to pull out of the clash, with Simon Mannering last week opting to stay with his partner Anna after the birth of the couple's second son.
Mannering has been replaced by Ryan Hoffman, while Trent Hodkinson, Tyson Frizell, Robbie Farah, Lachlan Maranta and Sam Burgess have also made themselves unavailable after being named in the team.
THIS WEEKEND'S PRE-SEASON GAMES
Saturday
NRL All Stars v Indigenous All Stars (Suncorp Stadium)
Panthers v Bulldogs (Pepper Stadium)
Eels v Warriors v Titans (Alice Springs)
Tigers v Storm (Sunshine Coast)
Dragons v Rabbitohs (ANZ Stadium)
Sunday
Sharks v Sea Eagles (Remondis Stadium)
