South Sydney halfback Adam Reynolds has revealed how an in-game pep-talk from skipper Greg Inglis was the catalyst for his match-winning efforts in Saturday's NRL win over St George-Illawarra.
The game looked headed for a grandstand finish when Dragons fullback Josh Dugan scored to cut the Rabbitohs' lead to four with ten minutes to go in the match.
And that's when Inglis - who this week admitted to struggling with the captaincy earlier this season - turned to his chief orchestrator to close the game out for the defending premiers.
Reynolds answered the call with two clutch plays that not only sealed the win for the defending premiers, but lifted them into the top four for the first time in three months.
First he came up with a supreme solo effort to chase through his own grubber in the 73rd minute, before he again threaded the needle with the boot for halves partner Luke Keary in the 77th.
"Greggy got into my ear there and said to finish off the game," Reynolds said post-match.
"Just when we got a penalty and kicked out. We knew we just had to camp down their end and build some pressure.
"Eventually it would've come and that's what we did."
Reynolds said the directive from Inglis, who has often been the go-to man for the Rabbitohs, spurred him on in the final stages of the match.
"When he does it, it does inspire me," Reynolds said.
"Coming from such a household name, and to see what he's done in the game... he backs me. It is my job to do it and I just need to stand up."
Inglis opened up earlier this week on the challenges he's had to overcome after being handed sole captaincy for the first time since moving to Redfern.
And Reynolds said he felt compelled to share the burden with his captain.
"Others need to stand up and help out with that leadership role and that's what I aim to do," he said.
"I'm the general on the field and I need to call the shots.
"That's something that we spoke about in the week off. I thought tonight we executed the plan nicely."
Inglis himself also had a key play late in the match when he broke a number of tackles deep in his own territory on play one that instantly put the Rabbitohs on the front foot.
"That one where he retrieved the ball in-goal and managed to turn the game around and run 40 (metres) - Greg's got the ability to do that quite often for us. It's good to have him in the team," coach Michael Maguire said.
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