South Sydney's "Coal Train" Dave Taylor says the pain of his five-week suspension was made worse by seeing Cronulla captain Paul Gallen let off at the NRL judiciary.

Taylor copped the long stint on the sidelines for a lifting tackle on Brisbane forward Scott Anderson in round 16.

The Queensland backrower failed to beat the grade two charge at the judiciary and the NRL's points loading system resulted in a five-week ban that caught many by surprise.

Taylor missed State of Origin III and the decision triggered Maroons coach Mal Meninga's now infamous attack on NSW "rats and filth".

Meninga narrowly avoided court action from members of the match review committee and eventually flew to Sydney to watch the committee in action.

Gallen, coincidentally the NSW captain, was last week found not guilty of dangerous contact after he lashed out with his boot at Gold Coast's Beau Henry.

"It definitely hurts now when you look back and you see blokes like Paul Gallen getting off for what they do, that definitely hurts deep," Taylor told AAP on Monday.

"It did hurt sitting on the sideline, especially through Origin.

"I'm just glad to be back and playing footy with the boys.

"I'm not going to say much about it, but everyone can see it."

Taylor's return has coincided with the Rabbitohs' two big wins over Parramatta and Canberra.

"Five weeks is a long time without playing footy and to come back and come into a team that's on fire, you appreciate your footy a lot more," Taylor said.

The 23-year-old has reignited a lethal combination with Origin team-mate Greg Inglis on Souths' left side.

Inglis scored two tries, including a 70m intercept, in the 47-18 win over the Raiders before sitting out the second half to nurse a head knock.

"I think he was knocked out for about 30 minutes in that game so hats off to him," Taylor said.

"I remember him saying to me he can't even see, then he gets that intercept and runs the length of the field.

"I said to him, 'Mate it wasn't too hard to see that ball'.

"He played a courageous game."

Brought to you by AAP © 2024 AAP