Canterbury five-eighth Josh Reynolds admits he hasn’t stepped into the breach in the absence of Trent Hodkinson and needs to shoulder more of the playmaking load.

The Bulldogs advanced to week two of the NRL finals with a thrilling 11-10 golden-point win over St George Illawarra at ANZ Stadium on Saturday night however lacked direction at times.

Hodkinson’s season is over after suffering a wrist injury in their round-25 win over Newcastle, leaving Reynolds and Moses Mbye to steer the side around the park in their finals campaign.

While all three have rotated through the halves during the year, Hodkinson has been the side’s main organiser and Reynolds admits they sometimes took the wrong option against the Dragons.

“Myself, I take a fair bit of the whack there,” Reynolds said.

“I’ve been around these boys for a long time now and I’ve got to direct them around the park and execute the plays.

“Moses, Cookie (hooker Damien Cook) and I are just working to get a good combination there.

“We’ve had a couple of games there now so hopefully we can execute a bit better next week.”

Canterbury face an elimination semi-final on Friday night against the Sydney Roosters at Allianz Stadium.

Reynolds said after Hodkinson’s injury, he resolved to take on a greater organising role and his combination with Mbye was still a work in progress.

“In the matter of organising, I had to step up a bit there because Trent has usually done that,” Reynolds said.

“I feel that between me and Moses and Cookie, we’ve got to share the load. I just want to take it upon myself because I’m not the young kid on the block anymore. I’ve been around for a couple of years now.”