Josh Reynolds admits he’s played dumb football, vows to smarten up

JOSH Reynolds admits he’s been guilty of being a ‘dumb footballer’ in the past, but has vowed to smarten up in the finals.

FIERY, aggressive and often suspended, Canterbury star Josh Reynolds has declared: “I’m not going to lie, in the past I have been a dumb footballer.”

But now he wants to be the “calming influence” over his bullocking Bulldogs.

Reynolds said on Tuesday how he was seeking a more “mature” role at Belmore after the season-ending injury to composed halfback Trent Hodkinson.

With rookie Moses Mbye now a starting halve, Reynolds knows he must now lead with respect and dignity.

And it starts with Saturday night’s sudden-death semi-final against St George Illawarra at ANZ Stadium.

Asked did he now need to show responsibility, Reynolds said: “I have to — I have been around this group of boys for four years now and Moses is young.

Josh Reynolds says he wants to be a calming influence on his side. Picture Gregg Porteous

“I definitely want to take that upon myself and be — you might laugh — that calming influence on the team now.

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“I have had my time when I could have been really aggressive and energetic and come out and not think about things too much because I always had in the back of my head that Trent would be there to calm the storm.

“Whereas now he’s gone. I won’t change my game but just evolve into a smarter and more mature player so the boys can fall back onto me. I want to be that guy.

“Don’t get me wrong, I’m not going to change but I’m not the young kid anymore. It’s more of a balancing act. I want to be a more mature than I have in the past.”

Reynolds has endured a tough season.

He has confronted suspension, injury and omission from the NSW State of Origin side.

But he is back and ready to lead the Bulldogs deep into September.

“It’s been a challenging season,” he said.

“I have had to go away and think about plenty of things. That’s what you want to do in life, learn from your mistakes and, in the past, I probably haven’t. It’s really hit me when off how much it hurts me not playing. I love the game.”

Bulldogs winger Sam Perrett praised Reynolds’ new role.

“I’ve seen him “Grub” mature a lot this year. Before he got injured he was really doing that for us. He was really stable,” Perrett said.

“We were getting some really good results and unfortunately he got injured. Even last week just gone he was very much the same but thank goodness he’s still got that x factor about him and he can pull points out of nowhere sometimes and that’s going to be really crucial in this finals series coming up.”

Told it was important for Reynolds to take more responsibility away from Mbye, Perrett said: “Sharing it is always the best way, you know? Many hands make light work. I think Moses is very mature for his age and “Grub” has already had plenty of experience himself so if we all share it together it’s really going to make things as easy as possible.”