Hmm looks like king played afetr all
V
ROOKIE South Sydney halfback Adam Reynolds grew up little more than two torpedo punt kicks from Redfern Oval, opposite the rough-and-tumble Grosvenor Hotel in neighbouring Waterloo. All summer, the talk among Rabbitohs fans has been about the local junior touted to replace halfback Chris Sandow.
In Souths' Return to Redfern trial loss to the Warrington Wolves yesterday, he didn't disappoint. The final scoreboard might have read 34-28, but it was Reynolds' first touch that set tongues wagging, with the 1.73m halfback ripping a 40/20 kick.
By fulltime, he had booted another one and landed four of five conversions, including a pressure kick to level at 28-all with 12 minutes remaining.
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Equally as pleasing for new coach Michael Maguire was the performance of his halves partner Ryan Carr, who scored a smart try and directed Souths' left-side attack.
New co-captain Matt King said Reynolds showed plenty of fight.
With King and English international Sam Burgess defending either side of him once the season starts, the little halfback should get even better.
"He played well, two 40/20s and I thought he defended well. Obviously that's going to be the test for Reyno, he's only a little fella," King said.
"Trent Waterhouse is twice the size of him and he had him running at him all day. That's going to happen week-in week-out for 24 weeks, so he's going to have to get used to that.
"But I thought he handled today really well. I tip my cap to him, but that's not discounting Ryan Carr either. Everyone's been questioning our options in the halves but I think we're in good shape."
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Warrington had South Sydney in trouble after the opening 25 minutes, blasting in four tries to race to a 24-0 lead as classy five-eighth Lee Briers carved them up.
But it was little-known players such as Brendon McKinnon, Neccrom Areaiiti, Shaune Corrigan, Carr and Reynolds who led the revival.
Sure, Jason Clark, Eddy Pettybourne, Nathan Peats and Dave Tyrrell submitted quality performances while they were out there, but Maguire gave the rookies plenty of game time.
Defensively, Souths looked awful early but then they rallied to show plenty of character and fight.
Goal-line defence, normally Souths' achilles heel, showed signs of improvement in the second half.
"I'm pleased. There was some good character shown and, all in all, I'm happy with that as a first hit-out," Maguire said.
"At the end of the day, Warrington's a fair team and they've got a lot of quality names, so it was great to see our young boys perform the way they did at the back end.
"To look down and see the number of quality players I had sitting down on the sideline, I'm obviously looking forward to our next trial."
Aside from playing King, Pettybourne, Peats, Clark, Tyrrell, Fetuli Talanoa and Scott Geddes, Maguire used the trial to run the rule over generation next.
And against the likes of Briers, Adrian Morley, Ben Westwood and Garreth Carvell, there was plenty to like about the performance.
At one point, when Reynolds put through a chip and chase with the game in the balance, Maguire calmly passed on a message to football manager Mark Ellison on the sideline.
"Good pressure, mate. None of that. We don't want to get too fancy," the coach said in the stands.
If Reynolds, 21, can come good on all the hype, the story of Souths' latest local junior to graduate to first grade may become just as famous as those of Bob McCarthy, Ron Coote and George Piggins.
Champion five-eighth Matty Johns has been asked to run an eye over Reynolds by new Rabbitohs coach Michael Maguire, providing an ear and a word where necessary.
Considered one of the sharpest minds in rugby league, Johns is at pains to point out he's not on the South Sydney payroll and has cautioned fans against expecting miracles too soon.
"For a start, I'm not coaching the kid. I've been along and watched a few training sessions but I haven't gone out in the field and worked with him," Johns said.
"Having said that, I've had some good conversations with him.
"For a kid, he's very composed and very humble.
"There's no doubt in my mind that he can play. But because of his injury history and the fact he's only young, people shouldn't put too much pressure on him."
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/n...arrington-wolves/story-e6frfgbo-1226256190753
