South Sydney coach John Lang's early expectations for Greg Inglis may not be sky high, but he still has a reassuring message for the fans - the NRL superstar is a "race day horse".

Inglis will make his much anticipated debut against the Rabbitohs arch rivals the Sydney Roosters on Friday night.

In Lang's parlance, the former Melbourne Storm star will be short of a gallop after an injury-plagued off-season.

But for Souths fans desperate for signs their 40-year premiership drought is some chance of being ended, the anticipation is huge.

"I don't think it will worry him too much, he's a race day horse and I think he's really looking forward to it," Lang told reporters at Redfern Oval on Monday.

"He's done everything at a young age so I really don't think that's going to worry him.

"My expectation's not super high that he's going to go out and tear them to bits.

"He is a bit underdone but I've got no doubt he'll do his job and if he gets an opportunity he'll make the most of it."

The 24-year-old Test and Queensland representative has so far shown he can handle anything.

A successful switch of clubs away from tough Storm mentor Craig Bellamy to the success-starved Rabbitohs is just the latest challenge.

Lang doesn't believe Souths fans are getting carried away just yet.

"I think they're daring to hope," he said. "They've had a lot of disappointments over the last 30 or 40 years.

"Everybody knows that Greg Inglis is an absolute world class player and he's got to be good for the club.

"But I think the fans are a bit like the rest of us, we know that we've got a great player in Greg Inglis but everybody else has got to do their job for us to have a successful season."

The Rabbitohs have kept a low profile throughout the pre-season, a far cry from last year's claims their pack was the best in the NRL.

Captain Roy Asotasi said experience had taught them to keep their build-up low key.

"It's a good side on paper but we haven't really done anything yet," he said.

"You can come to me at the end of the year and see how we went.

"I probably won't be going around quoting that we've got the best pack.

"We've got a good side but we need to perform, that's the challenge I put on our players."

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