No one mentioned Ben Lowe.

But after 12 rounds the Bunnies' quiet achiever has emerged from the shadows of his big-name teammates to be the most consistent performer during South Sydney's surge up the ladder.

The Toowoomba-born lock says his form is down in no small part to the competition for spots that came with the arrival of Burgess and Taylor at Redfern.

Stung into action by the buzz surrounding the star back-rowers, Lowe embarked on a gruelling pre-season regime of extra weights and training sessions to fortify his 102kg frame.

With Crocker sidelined for the early rounds, John Lang switched Lowe from second-row to lock and he has made the No. 13 jersey his own.

So much so that Souths' forwards mentor Gordon Tallis insists the 25-year-old is ready for a Queensland Origin call-up.

And all Lowe wanted to do this season is become an NRL regular.

"We had a lot of hype around the pack with Sam and Dave coming, so that's probably been a big drive," Lowe said.

"I knew I had to work hard to get into the 17 and I was doing extra weights and stuff and I was just lucky that Langy gave me the opportunity."

That opportunity arrived because Crocker had surgery on his shoulder, groin and ankle during the off-season.

It meant Lowe had to move from the edges to play in the centre of the field, but the switch has paid dividends.

Speaking ahead of tonight's clash against North Queensland, Lowe says he drew confidence from being drafted into Queensland's emerging Origin squad before the season started.

But the support of Lang, Tallis and, ironically, Crocker has played a big part in his good form.

"Poor old Crock's been struggling with his fitness, but he's been great helping me out a lot," Lowe said of Crocker, who has been rested this week.

"He's always having a chat at halftime and telling me what to work on, which has been great for me and my footy.

"Johnny Lang has also given me a lot of confidence, just the way he backs his players, which has helped with my game."

Lowe goes head-to-head tonight with Cowboys enforcer Luke O'Donnell in a forwards battle that also pits Burgess and Taylor against Willie Mason and another Maroons Origin hopeful, Scott Bolton.

Tallis, who has made Lowe a pet project since linking with the Rabbitohs last year, said the workhorse lock would again show his credentials.

"He's been our most consistent forward for the whole season," Tallis said.

"It's a credit to how hard he's trained, but that's what competition does for your footy side.

"You've got Burgess, [Taylor] and Crocker. Who would have thought that he would keep Michael Crocker on the bench and I think he will.

"Michael Crocker normally comes back into any side. But the way Ben's playing, that No. 13. jersey is his until someone takes it off him."

Tallis said Lowe had shown he could play different roles.

"He's one of those guys who does everything great," the former Broncos star and FoxSports commentator said.

"He comes with a great attitude and he's got sneaky stats. When he played the Wests Tigers in that great game [50-10 win in round 10], he made like 170m.

"That's front-rowerish and he makes a mountain of tackles every week.

"As a lock he's got a great mix in his game. He pops up all over the field. He takes inside balls and goes through holes and he's got a really good footy brain.

"There's no secret he's trained really hard to get where he has, so I'm rapt with him because he's a great guy. Very shy, very humble."

And now, he's finally out of the shadows.