Maguire to continue with Keary, Reynolds

South Sydney coach Michael Maguire will persist with his new-look halves combination of Adam Reynolds and Luke Keary despite a forgettable first outing in the Rabbitohs’ upset 14-10 NRL loss to Gold Coast on Monday.

Maguire had indicated pre-season he would alter his successful halves duo of Reynolds and John Sutton this season by playing the Souths captain in the back-row and moving Keary into five-eighth alongside halfback Reynolds.

Those plans were upset early in 2014, when Keary suffered a pectoral muscle injury in the pre-season Auckland Nines.

Maguire then slotted Dylan Walker into five-eighth for the early rounds but soon returned Sutton to the playmaking role when that partnership didn’t bear fruit.

Keary was dangerous in patches against the Titans in a very stop-start game marred by a high penalty count and repeated dropped ball, and Reynolds’ second half participation was hampered by a knee problem.

Maguire admitted his frustration at the Rabbitohs’ performance but stressed he was keen to continue with Reynolds and Keary in the halves, with Sutton to stay in the back-row, for the clash with Parramatta in two weeks after a round-18 bye.

Rugby league Immortal Andrew Johns said during Triple M’s broadcast of the Rabbitohs-Titans clash he didn’t believe the combination would deliver long awaited premiership success to Redfern.

“We will persist with that combination for sure,” Maguire said.

“I thought Luke at times showed some really good touches and John in the back-row.

“If we hang onto the ball it allows those two to play an easier game.

“We didn’t get back-to-back sets, we didn’t build pressure, those are areas of our game we need to look at.”

George Burgess (ankle) and Kyle Turner (leg) both suffered injuries against the Titans but Maguire was confident the pair would be fit to meet the Eels, as would Reynolds.

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