Burns' hussle to force Gareth Widdop to knock-on straight after half-time inspired the visitors as they raced in four tries in just 17 minutes to win 34-18 at Kogarah on Thursday night.

The 10,080 Dragons fans who were in fine voice at half-time suddenly realised their side, including Gerringong's Tariq Sims, was about to crash to a second straight loss, before a road trip to Suncorp Stadium next Thursday night.

Brad Fittler dropped a bombshell during the Nine commentary and suggested maybe it was time the Dragons management sat down with Gareth Widdop and had the discussion about him making his move to the English Super League this year instead of 2020.

Widdop ran for 16 metres at fullback, and Dragons fans are sure to ask how much longer coach Paul McGregor can deny Matt Dufty in the No.1. Fittler said the club needed to weigh up if they went with players such as Jai Field, who would hang around long-term.

McGregor said afterwards: "Gareth's certainly what we need this season. We've got a good opportunity in 2019, we lost our first two games, which is disappointing, there's a long way to go in this competition and Gareth's a big part of our football team. He's our captain and he'll be in my footy side.

"He's had a mixed couple of games, there's been some really good stuff in his game and stuff that he needs to work on. That happens when you haven't played that position for some time.''

The red and white supporters could not bring themselves to laugh when Burgess' attempted grubber went nowhere near his foot.

"That's the funniest thing I've seen all year," a giggling Andrew Johns said on the Nine commentary.

"Sam, you don't have a kicking licence. The ball did not go near his foot.''

It was one of the few things the Englishman did wrong as he backed up his powerhouse performance against the Sydney Roosters in the opening round with another stellar 80 minutes against the Dragons.

He bagged two tries, set up another and ran for 157 metres. Club legend Bob McCarthy said during the week his good mate Ron Coote would have been flicked from the Dream Team had Burgess remained a lock forward and not shifted to the right edge.

While Souths are forever grateful to have Burgess each week, they will also be excited about the potential of Burns under Bennett.

One reason Bennett shifted Greg Inglis to right centre was to allow the development of Burns, 22, to flourish on the left edge.

Burns ran for 168 metres, forced a dropout and scored a well-deserved try when he muscled past Dragons winger Mikaele Ravalawa to ground an Adam Reynolds grubber.

"I thought he was close to our best player tonight,'' Bennett said of Burns.

"I like what he brings. I made a decision with GI to put him on the other side so Braidon could have the opportunity to develop into a player. He hasn't played a lot of NRL so we think he can get better.

"And [Burgess] is one of the best forwards in the game, one of the best forwards to have ever played the game. He just put his stamp on the game didn't he? That's what the good ones do.''

Souths confirmed Inglis was fine, despite the skipper favouring his right shoulder in the second half.

John Sutton failed to return after the half hour as he struggled with a chest infection.

Liam Knight was placed on report for a chicken-wing tackle on James Graham.

The Dragons were clearly the better team in the first half and the Widdop, Corey Norman and Ben Hunt dynamic seemed to be working a treat.

Watching the trio attack the line at speed and with their ball-playing skills is a joy to watch.

Widdop did just that when he drifted across field and helped set up the first of Jordan Pereira's first tries, while it was Norman's looping cut-out pass that gave the winger his second.

But the Dragons had few answers as Souths went on the march. Their key men also went quiet.

Damien Cook's pass to Cody Walker was not ruled forward in the lead-up to Campbell Graham's try, but it meant little in the scheme of things.

Souths will start short-priced favourites when they have the 10-day turnaround to their Sunday evening home game against the Gold Coast.

The Dragons face the Broncos as debate about how their spine should look will dominate headlines.