Reynolds: Young Rabbitohs halves will step up when he kicks on at Broncos

There has been plenty of comments far and wide about how Souths will cope without star halfback Adam Reynolds next year but the skipper is confident he's leaving Souths in a strong position.

Since being told he couldn't be squeezed under the South Sydney salary cap when his deal expires at the end of this year, Reynolds was the hottest property on the market for a raft of clubs looking for a veteran playmaker of his quality.

The interest from media has been as strong as the interest from rival clubs, with Reynolds happy to no longer be a weekly headline as he casts his gaze towards finishing strongly with the Rabbitohs before the fresh challenge in a new city that awaits at the Broncos

"It's good that there's no more talk about me, every day it was something different," he said.

"Whether it be Sharks, Brisbane, Cowboys, Souths. It is what it is, I'm happy with my decision, I'm grateful they've given me an opportunity up there and looking forward to it."

For the second straight year, wins have been very tough to come by for the struggling Broncos but Reynolds was unfazed by their plight while uprooting his young family to move interstate was more of a positive than a negative as he eventually opted against a move to Cronulla.

"I was close [to signing with the Sharks] but in saying that I was still having conversations with my family about moving up to Brisbane," he said.

"That was probably the deciding factor in the end, the family wanted to move up.

"We want the challenge of being in a different state and having to lean on each other as a family a bit more.

"It can get a bit routine-ish down in Sydney and I'm looking forward to a new challenge.

"That was the deciding factor in the end. I think they've got a lot of potential up there in Brisbane. It's a great place to live."

While stressing his immediate focus was on the Bunnies' 2021 campaign, Reynolds was happy to cast an eye over his potential 2022 halves partners from Kotoni Staggs to Tyson Gamble to Albert Kelly, as well as a possible Matt Dufty signing at Red Hill.

"[Staggs] is a wonderful player, he's a damaging ball runner and great defensively. I think no matter where you have him in the team he's going to do the job for you," Reynolds said.

"In saying that I'm not too sure what the club's thinking for next year. We'll have to wait and see. I think they've got a few good young players coming through as well.

"Albert Kelly's been doing well in the halves there. Tyson Gamble's been going well. They've got a number of good quality young players through, it's just about trying to unlock their potential."

Of Dufty he added: "he's a quality player. I think you want to play with all quality players, he's no different. He's an attacking threat. One of the best attacking players in the comp.

"He does a great job for St George Illawarra - I can't understand why they sort of don't want him. I'm sure he'd be a great acquisition for the club."

Reynolds also expressed confidence in the next South Sydney generation of Dean Hawkins, Troy Dargan and Blake Taafe, who is a chance of playing NRL this Saturday against Newcastle after being included in the extended reserves behind four players listed to back up from State of Origin I.

"They're quality young players that have got good staff around them. I'm sure they'll be fine," he said.

"They've been in the system for some time now and sort of get overlooked … It makes for good competition at training and it makes for the better out of those players.

"They'll push each other to the limits in pre-season and one of them will put their hand up.

"It will be on the likes of Cody [Walker], Cookie [Damien Cook] and Latrell [Mitchell] to push those blokes through. I'm sure they'll be fine.

"They're coming into a good system, the team's stable, they're not losing too many players. I don't know which way they want to go but I'm sure they'll be fine."