Rabbitohs beat Bulldogs 17-12 as Ben Barba returns to NRL action Adam Reynolds steered the Rabbitohs to victory against the Bulldogs on Friday. Picture: Evans Mark WHEN he was a kid, Adam Reynolds aimed his radar at street signs and garbage bins in the alley behind his childhood house in Waterloo. These days he's aiming much, much higher. Where the 22-year-old's dizzying trajectory will plateau is anyone's guess, even if NSW coach Laurie Daley has already installed a glass ceiling on his Origin selection for this year. To stick to his guns, Daley will need to display the same doggedness and conviction as Reynolds did to steer South Sydney to a memorable 17-12 win over the Bulldogs at ANZ Stadium. This was a dramatic afternoon that produced the NRL's highest-ever regular season crowd, a spear tackle howler, the axing of South Sydney skipper Michael Crocker and a top-shelf contest between two genuine title heavyweights. But yet again it was the Reynolds fairytale that shone brightest, with the halfback staying cool in a finals-like furnace to preserve his team's unbeaten start. His deadly accurate boot forced three line-drop outs, two of which led directly to South Sydney tries. The second, in the 56th minute, also came straight from Reynolds' boot, with Nathan Merritt finishing the slickest set move of 2013 to put Souths ahead for the first time. Bulldogs fullback Ben Barba gets his first touch of the ball. Picture: Mark Evans Spear tackle: Inu on report But it wasn't the polish that impressed most. It was the grit. Reynolds finished the match with a veritable glacier wrapped around his corked left calf, the mountain of ice testament to an 11th-minute challenge from Bulldogs namesake Josh Reynolds. For Rabbitohs fans and coach Michael Maguire, the sight of him flattened and agonised invited nightmarish deja vu from last year's grand final qualifier on this very same turf. Rabbitohs v Bulldogs MATCH CENTRE Sam Burgess jumps on brother George who scored for Souths. On that occasion Reynolds couldn't overcome a hamstring tear and the Bulldogs waltzed to the decider in his absence. But yesterday he rose to lead South Sydney from an early 6-0 deficit with a performance that will put Daley under pressure to justify Mitchell Pearce's guaranteed grip on the Blues No.7 jersey. Maguire has no doubts that his charge - along with halves partner and stand-in skipper John Sutton - could do the job. "At the end of the day I think it's great," Maguire said. It's funny that everyone talks about Reynolds, but we've got (Sutton) that has a bit to do with that as well. Krisnan Inu was placed on report for this spear tackle on Greg Inglis. Ben's back: Barba thanks fans Well accustomed to being asked about his representative chances, Reynolds rolled out the nonchalant cliches like his leather-perfect grubbers. "I grew up with a football in my hands, kicking balls into bins and street signs and whatever," he said. It was in the lane at the back of my house. I was just a little kid having fun. Yesterday, however, was not as much fun for Crocker, who suffered the rare indignity of being dropped as captain after last week's scratchy win over Penrith. He was unsighted afterwards in the dressing rooms, where co-owner Russell Crowe congratulated each player. Maguire said Crocker had been consulted and he was impressed at his professionalism to warm up with the team as 18th man."I'm sure he was upset," Maguire said. He's got a lot of pride about his selection and he completely understands and was very, very professional about it. Bryson Goodwin scores for the Bunnies. Ironically, Roy Asotasi returned from the same fate a week earlier to replace Crocker. "Madge wants to change the culture here at the club and everyone's job is not safe unless you work hard during the week," Asotasi said. Madge is a tough coach but a reasonable one at the same time. It's a team sport and if you're not doing your job there's going to be a problem. Crock knows what he needs to work on and I have no doubt he'll be back. Yesterday's crowd of 51,686 was the most for a regular NRL season game on record, beating the previous mark of 50,859 set in Darren Lockyer's 2011 farewell match. It was also Sydney's biggest non-finals rugby league crowd, beating the St George v Souths match in 1967, when 50,153 attended. SOUTH SYDNEY 17 (G Burgess B Goodwin N Merritt tries A Reynolds 2 goals A Reynolds field goal) bt BULLDOGS 12 (B Barba M Brown tries K Inu 2 goals) at ANZ Stadium. Referee: Shayne Hayne, Alan Shortall. Crowd: 51,686.