Ball control will be top of the agenda for South Sydney heading into the NRL finals after they frequently dropped the ball in Friday’s minor-premiership-deciding loss to Sydney Roosters.

Needing a win to secure top spot, Souths were outscored 14-0 in the second half and lost 24-12 at ANZ Stadium.

Halfback Adam Reynolds lamented the frequent possession turnovers after the break that effectively stymied Souths chances of winning.

“We dropped too much ball and we didn’t give ourselves a chance to win the game,” Reynolds told AAP.

“We completed under 50 per cent (in the second half), I think.

“You can’t give another side like the Roosters too much ball otherwise they can score points.”

Reynolds conceded the turning point came with the score at 12-12 when teenage centre Dylan Walker squandered a golden try-scoring opportunity by failing to ground the ball correctly in the Roosters in-goal area.

“You only get a few chances and you need to take every one, otherwise things can happen like they did tonight,” Reynolds said.

“Momentum turned and they ended up scoring some points and they were just too good on the night.”

The next few weeks offer Reynolds the opportunity to leave behind the disappointment of last year’s finals campaign, when he suffered a torn hamstring in the first half of the Rabbitohs’ preliminary final loss to the Bulldogs.

“There’s still fire in the belly there and I’m just looking forward to next week,” Reynolds said.

“We’ve got a lot to turn around and we’ll be working hard at training.”