Halfback Adam Reynolds is determined to take on a leadership role at South Sydney this season as the Rabbitohs attempt to bounce back from successive preliminary final fadeouts.
After the Rabbitohs again fell one game short of the NRL grand final last year, Reynolds says Souths need to learn the tough lessons from those heartbreaking finals defeats.
Entering his third NRL season with the club with 53 games under his belt the 23-year-old knows he has to take on more responsibility if Souths are to finally taste premiership glory for the first time since 1971.
“I am trying to look to add a few more things to my game this year and go to the next level,” Reynolds told AAP.
“I am going to try and be more of a leader and step my game up.
“I have been working very hard in the pre-season and hopefully that will transfer out onto the field.”
“It’s my job to lead the team now and I have to put my best foot forward every week.”
After falling one game short of the grand final in 2012, the Rabbitohs led Manly 14-0 after 11 minutes in their preliminary final last season and looked set for their first grand final appearance since their last premiership.
But from there the Rabbitohs stumbled spectacularly to be knocked out of the NRL title race, as the Sea Eagles piled on 30 unanswered points in one of the most stunning finals turnarounds in memory.
Manly eventually ran out 30-20 winners, after Canterbury had run out 32-8 victors in the corresponding game the year before.
“It is definitely something you look back on … the hurt is still there and it will be something that we will use during the year to motivate us,” Reynolds said.
“But we are just worried about our pre-season at the moment and getting that right. We have a few new faces coming into the squad and it has been a great pre-season for us as a team and for me so far.”