South Sydney junior Adam Reynolds is relishing his side's huge Men of League Heritage Round clash against old rivals the Dragons to pay tribute to legends of the club whose names each player will carry on their jersey.
Reynolds is no stranger to the venue, having helped his side down the Dragons last year and booting five goals from five attempts in the 26-6 Round 5 win, but says any opportunity to play on the historic ground is special.
"I've been lucky enough to play here a few times, it's a great oval, it's got a lot of history behind it, as do the two clubs," Reynolds said at the SCG earlier in the week.
"It's going to be a great encounter come Saturday and one we're looking forward to."
Both Reynolds and the foundation club are proud of the history at Redfern, which includes a record 21 premierships dating back to the very first year of rugby league in Australia in 1908. The next best is St George with 15, or 16 counting the 2010 title won as a merged entity with Illawarra.
"It's something that the club's proud of and myself, I'm proud of. It's a club with such a rich history, it means a lot to a lot of people. It's a good chance for us on Saturday to run out with their names on our jerseys."
The names he refers to are the names of every single man to have won a premiership with the Rabbitohs in those 21 titles which will all be printed on a special heritage strip the side will wear on Saturday night.
Reynolds nominated two of the names on the jersey that were extra special to him. The first is Eric Simms, an Indigenous goal-kicking fullback who won four titles with the club in 1967, 1968, 1970 and 1971 and still holds the club record for most points (1,841). The second is another club great in Bob McCarthy, who played in the same four premiership seasons although missed the 1968 Grand Final.
"Definitely Bobby McCarthy and Eric Simms, I didn't get to watch them growing up but from what I've heard about them they're two great blokes not only on the field but off the field as well," Reynolds said when asked which club legends he most admired.
"They pop in and around every now and then around training, it's good to see their faces, they're full of stories and full of good times. There's such an aura around them when they do turn up to the place it's humbling being around them."
On the field, the Rabbitohs enter Round 19 in fifth place and in need of a win to keep their top-four aspirations chugging along, and their opponents will be arguably more desperate after five straight losses.
With just one win in their past three games, Reynolds knows South Sydney need to get back to their game plan.
"We've just got to get back to playing basic footy and everyone doing their job in our team. It's been a bit of a frustrating season for myself [with injury] but all that's behind me now. It's about blocking this last part of the season together and putting in a good performance come Saturday," he said.
"We've had the bye and it was a good chance to freshen up and work on the combinations over that little period there. It's coming along nicely, it's all about transferring it back on the park now.
"The Dragons are in a pretty similar position to us. Both teams need to win. They've got strike all across the park, they're not going to turn up just to lay down. They've got quality players and they're getting a few players back as well. It's going to be a good challenge for us and it's going to be good to see where we're at."
