I see what you're saying, but I don't think it really applies in this case
This year there was an equiry regarding Liam Fulton and had an agreed fee been paid to cover his cost by the Wests Tigers to play a season in the ESL it would of fallen under the Wests Tigers cap, the only way around that was to "release" Fulton allow him to sign for 1 season and then return back to the Wests Tigers for next season.
If a transfer fee is paid that will be included in the cap as its apart of the purchase price here in the NRL, unlike the ESL.
Todd Payten is another example, at one stage his contract was still being paid for by the Raiders, Roosters and only 25% paid for by the Tigers because that was a player discarded (compensation) scenario which happens more often in the NRL. The amount the Raiders and Roosters were paying fell under those teams cap during that time.
As for Burgess if I was a Souths fan I wouldn't be so confident and I definatley wouldn't be saying he isn't coming to the Tigers either at the moment for the 2011 season.