Promising Wests Tigers halfback Luke Brooks has been pinpointed as the danger man by South Sydney players as the two clubs gear up for battle at ANZ Stadium on Friday night.
With three wins on the trot, the Rabbitohs have been hitting their straps in the recent weeks but will have to be wary of this week's opponents who returned to form last week after a solid win in Newcastle – a Brooks 40/20 proving to be the momentum turner in the Tigers' 23-20 win.
It was only in Round 3 when these two teams last met and it was Brooks who produced two try assists, one line break assists and 346 kick metres as the Tigers prevailed with a 25-16 upset, something that the Rabbitohs were certainly not happy with at the time.
Adam Reynolds, the man who will be directly opposite Brooks on Friday night, agrees that the 19-year-old whiz kid is the man his team will have to be most cautious of as he continues his development in the NRL.
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"It should be a good contest. They're playing with a real confidence at the moment and so is Brooks. He is a good player and he's looking dangerous so it's going to be a good challenge for our boys," Reynolds said.
"We just have to be together as a team. They have a few other individuals there who are dangerous like Tedesco at the back there. [Brooks & Tedesco's] little combination there has grown over time this year so we'll have to step up."
Rabbitohs captain John Sutton resonated with his halves partner before adding his thoughts on how Reynolds himself was travelling this season.
"I think the Tigers are playing really good football. We'll definitely have to be on our game and Luke Brooks has been playing really well so he's definitely a player to watch," Sutton said.
"[Though] Adam's been playing well for us. His defence has been great all season and I think he's really finding his feet in attack so it should be a good contest for him and I'm sure he's looking forward to it."
While young Brooks is getting the well-deserved plaudits, Reynolds has been no slouch this season either having conjured four line breaks, eight try assists, four line break assists and 25 tackle breaks.
"I'm getting a bit of confidence back. It's always easy to do well when the team's going well. Credit to our boys, we have been playing better these past couple of weeks," Reynolds said.
While several members of the club have lamented that execution has been lacking in recent times, Reynolds appeared pleased with their efforts in Perth against the Warriors last Saturday night.
"It is pleasing to get those wins. In saying that, we're still not where we want to be; we have a lot of improvement ahead of us. [These wins] are just a little reward for all the hard work we have been putting in at training but there is still a long way to go," Reynolds said.
"It's going to be a tough game. They have been playing some good footy... with a lot of energy and they've been completing with the ball pretty well so we're going to have to turn up and shut them down on Friday night."
While the Rabbitohs will be missing the likes of Greg Inglis, Chris McQueen and Ben Te'o to Queensland Origin duty and Dylan Walker sidelined for four to six weeks with a thumb injury, the Rabbitohs have enlisted the likes of Nathan Merritt, Ben Lowe and Alex Johnston to fill the gaps on Friday night.
