South Sydney halfback Adam Reynolds has become the greatest points-scorer in the club’s history, having overtaken the long-standing record of Rabbitohs royalty Eric Simms.
The historic moment, which came when Reynolds converted a Dane Gagai try in the 43rd minute of the Rabbitohs’ 40-12 win over the Eels, also saw the veteran playmaker join the league’s top-10 highest points-scorers of all time.
Reynolds headed into the game against Parramatta on 1834 points, trailing Simms’ total of 1841, before adding another impressive milestone to his tremendous career.
“It’s coming back perfectly,” said Nine commentator Ray Warren as Reynolds curved the ball from right to left.
“And just like a record, Reynolds’ name goes in the frame!”
Rugby league icon Phil Gould added: “That’s a great career and it’s not over yet.”
Reynolds said it felt “surreal” to surpass Simms’ record.
“I’m grateful to have been in the position to make this achievement. Eric is a wonderful human being, he’s done a lot for this club and to be mentioned alongside him I’m really grateful about,” Reynolds said on Nine’s post-match show.
“To share these memories with my teammates I’ll be forever grateful for.
“I can remember as a young bloke coming in, (former Rabbitohs captain) Sammy Burgess had a great saying that, ‘There’s a lot of history on the wall there, but we want to create our own’. And that’s stuck with me ever since.
“There’s no point looking at them; you want to be a part of it, you want be up on that wall. It’s great motivation to walk past the walls every day and aspire to be up there with the legends of our club.
“I’m grateful to be able to wear this jersey and do so for the rest of the year.”
Reynolds’ move into the top-10 highest points-scorers ever has put him in the company of Cameron Smith, Hazem El Masri, Jarrod Croker, Johnathan Thurston, Andrew Johns, Jason Taylor, Daryl Halligan, Mick Cronin and Graham Eadie.
But the most prestigious achievement of Reynolds’ night was his overtaking of Simms as South Sydney’s greatest-ever points-scorer.
Simms, who played 206 matches and won four grand finals with South Sydney, was renowned for his kicking prowess.
The New South Welshman, whose career spanned 1965 to 1975, booted 803 goals.
But Simms was primarily renowned for his incredible ability to kick field goals, with the indigenous champion once slotting a record five field goals in a game and registering 86 throughout his career.
Simms was the reason behind the NSWRFL reducing the value of field goals from two points to one point in 1971.
While Simms’ points total was fattened by his many two-point field goals, it must be noted he had to kick leather balls, he didn’t have the luxury of using a plastic tee and his 23 career tries were only worth three points.
“Brilliant goal-kicker and in those days the fields were dusty and muddy and the footballs were all bent out of shape,” Gould recalled.
“There were no kicking tees, you had to scratch around for a bit of dirt to put it on a mound. They had a lot of difficulties back then. It wasn’t as nice as we’ve got it today. And they were part-timers; they weren’t full-time professionals.”
The Rabbitohs’ win over the Eels also saw Reynolds reach 200 points for the 2021 season.
The Broncos-bound playmaker has now reached 200 points in seven of the 10 NRL seasons he’s played.
Manly winger Reuben Garrick (226 points) is the only player in the competition leading Reynolds at this stage.
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